The Royal Exchange Theatre has unveiled its 2027–28 season, featuring a mix of new writing, classic plays, and musical theatre. Highlights include a production of Guys and Dolls, Beverley Knight starring in Much Ado About Nothing, and the reopening of its studio space.

The season marks the second programme from artistic director Selina Cartmell following the theatre’s 50th anniversary. It opens with Brian Friel’s Faith Healer, directed by Emma Baggott, running from 20 March to 18 April 2027.

Abbi Greenland’s Talking to Boys will have its world premiere in the Royal Exchange’s studio space from 8 April to 8 May, becoming the first production in that venue since March 2020. The studio will also showcase Daisy Miles’ R Lady’s, winner of the 2025 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting North West – Original New Voice Award, from 13 May to 5 June.

The season features the UK premiere of RIOT, by Jennifer Jennings and Phillip McMahon, produced by THISISPOPBABY. Combining theatre, circus, acrobatics, and dance, the production runs from 27 May to 6 June and stars Panti Bliss, Emmet Kirwan, Lords of Strut, and The Sirens, with a guest performer each night.

Simon Stephens’ new play The First Blue Thing, reimagining the myth of Phaedra in modern Stockport, will have its world premiere as part of Manchester International Festival 2027. Directed by Cartmell, it runs from 18 June to 25 July in association with Factory International.

Beverley Knight will star as Beatrice in a new production of Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Michael Buffong and co-produced with Talawa Theatre Company. Set in Trinidad shortly after WWII, this version runs from 17 September to 24 October.

Natalie Abrahami will direct a new staging of Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls, running from 19 November 2027 to 9 January 2028. The musical explores the lives of gamblers, showgirls, and missionaries in 1950s New York.

The season will close with the world premiere of Munichs, a stage adaptation by Ben Power of David Peace’s novel about the Munich Air Disaster, marking its 70th anniversary. Directed by Cartmell, the play runs from 28 January to 12 March 2028.

The announcement follows the previously revealed production of Tolu Okanlawon’s Shooters, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, set to close the theatre’s 50th anniversary year in February 2027. The venue will also adopt the name Royal Exchange Theatre Company as it heads into this next phase focused on new writing and diverse theatrical forms.