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NEWS: ARCOLA THEATRE ANNOUNCES AUTUMN/WINTER SEASON

  • Writer: Neill Kovacic-Clarke
    Neill Kovacic-Clarke
  • 12 hours ago
  • 4 min read

ARCOLA THEATRE

ANNOUNCES ITS

AUTUMN/WINTER 2026 SEASON



  • 5 productions announced, running from Wednesday 9th September 2026 - Saturday 20th February 2027

  • 4 major in house productions and 3 world premieres

  • Programme includes Henrik Ibsen’s The Master Builder, in a version by David

  • Edgar and directed by Arcola’s Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen, and Arthur Miller’s

  • Incident at Vichy directed by Olivier and Tony Award-nominated director Melly Still.

  • New plays by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, Julia Pascal and John Webber.

  • Through explorations of power, uncertainty, survival and redemption, the season

  • examines the existential anxieties and moral dilemmas of a changing world, united by

  • the question of individual responsibility.

  • Tickets between £12 – £39, with Pay What You Can continuing every Tuesday

  • Tickets for all shows are on sale from Thursday 18th June at arcolatheatre.com


Arcola Theatre has today announced its Autumn/Winter 2026 Season, with 5 productions, with tickets on sale now.


Founded in 2000, Arcola is now one of London’s leading off-West End theatres - producing a socially engaged programme which champions diversity, challenges the status quo, and stages trailblazing productions for everyone.


This season brings together plays that confront individuals at moments of moral and emotional reckoning. Across stories shaped by political violence, private ambition, environmental uncertainty and collective trauma, the work asks what it means to act responsibly in a world marked by fear, instability and change. Moving between the intimate and the historical, the season explores the pressures that force people to choose between self-preservation, compassion and courage.


At the heart of the season is David Edgar’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s The Master Builder – a striking new staging of the classic psychological drama exploring ambition and legacy from Arcola’s Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen (The Enemy of the People; Richard III) starring Laurence Olivier nominated Actor Greg Hicks (Coruilanus, Old Vic). Playing in Studio 1, the play follows Halvard Solness, a celebrated architect at the height of his fame, as he attempts to secure his legacy whilst the past resurfaces around him.


Exploring the moral destruction wrought by systems of power on both a geo-political and personal scale, Arthur Miller’s Incident at Vichy continues the season’s examination of individuals confronted by forces far greater than themselves. Set in Nazi-occupied France, a group of detainees await interrogation, forced to face questions of complicity, identity and human responsibility. In a revival from Olivier and Tony Award-nominated director Melly Still (My Brilliant Friend, National Theatre) playing in Studio 1, Miller’s gripping ensemble drama reveals the quiet terror of authoritarianism and the fragile line between self-preservation and sacrifice.


Continuing the season’s interrogation of complicity, exile and state violence, Julia Pascal’s new play The Banality of Evil: Hannah Arendt, France, 1940 brings a vital female perspective to the politics of displacement and survival. Arrested in France at the outbreak of war, political theorist Hannah Arendt, artist Charlotte Salomon, and Communist schoolgirl Eva Daube are imprisoned in Camp Gurs, where each must decide whether to endure, resist or flee. Blending cabaret, physical theatre and satire, this urgent new production uncovers an extraordinary and often overlooked history of female exile and survival under fascism.


Exploring the tensions between climate activism, grief and belonging, John Webber's new play Fire Fire examines how personal loss collides with urgent calls for collective action. Directed by Jennifer Tang, this explosive two-hander follows two strangers who meet on opposing sides of a protest, only to find their lives becoming unexpectedly entwined. As divisions give way to unlikely understanding, Fire Fire asks how people can find common ground in an increasingly polarised world, and what happens when ordinary individuals decide that action can no longer wait.


Finally, bringing a haunting edge to the season, Henry James’ gothic classic The Turn of the Screw will transform the Arcola's humble space into a world of shadows, secrets and creeping dread, as a young governess becomes convinced the children in her care are being haunted by sinister forces. Adapted by Olivier Award-winning playwright Morgan Lloyd Malcolm (Emilia) and directed by Nicky Allpress, premiering at Arcola before a UK-wide tour, this production offers audiences the perfect spooky thriller this October. Blurring the line between supernatural terror and psychological unravelling, this chilling production taps into the season’s wider fascination with fear, repression and the ghosts – real or imagined – that refuse to stay buried.


Arcola’s Artistic Director, Mehmet Ergen, said:

“At Arcola, we are drawn to work that engages urgently with the world we live in. That world, today, feels like a world in flux. Responding to this uncertainty, across the season, we explore the many forms power can take. The power of governments, institutions and ideologies, but also the quieter power of memory, desire, fear and conscience. These are plays about individuals wrestling with responsibility in a changing world, asking how we retain our humanity when the pressures around us demand compromise.”

Arcola’s Executive Producer, Leyla Nazli said:

“We programme our seasons with audiences at the heart of every decision, and this year is no exception. From edge-of-your-seat thrillers to thought-provoking dramas and powerful new voices, these productions invite audiences to laugh, reflect, question and connect. We are proud to offer a programme that not only entertains, but also challenges and creates meaningful opportunities to offer audiences not easy answers, but vital questions about courage, compassion and our obligations to one another.”

FIRE FIRE


THE TURN OF THE SCREW


THE BANALITY OF EVIL: HANNAH ARENDT, FRANCE, 1940


THE MASTER BUILDER


INCIDENT AT VICHY


All details in this article are correct at time of publishing and are subject to change.


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