Original Theatre announces 20th anniversary season

Original Theatre, the Suffolk-based theatre company, has announced a packed programme for the coming season which will mark its 20th anniversary.

Running from November 2024 for a year, it will include:

• BELLRINGERS

  Starring Paul Adeyefa and Luke Rollason, this production will be released and presented on Original Online this November. Daisy Hall’s comic and deeply moving debut play was a finalist for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2024, and was chosen by the Evening Standard as one of 'the best Edinburgh 2024 shows coming to London this year'.

• BIRDSONG

  Original Theatre’s tour of Sebastian Faulk’s epic First World War story of love and loss will be extended to include a London run, playing Alexandra Palace Theatre from February 27 to March 8, 2025. Adapted by Rachel Wagstaff and directed by Original Theatre’s Artistic Director Alastair Whatley, this brand-new production marking the 30th anniversary of the international best-selling novel stars Max Bowden, Charlie Russell and James Esler.

• THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING OSCAR

  Laced with Wilde’s signature wit and wisdom and featuring passages from his best-loved works, this acclaimed show, starring Original Theatre’s Artistic Director Alastair Whatley and directed by Michael Fentiman, offers a rich portrait of the celebrated, complex figure on the 125th anniversary of his death. The venue and dates are to be announced shortly.

• THE CROFT

  This thriller by Ali Milles will tour in May and June 2025. Based on a true Highland story, this bold and haunting play interweaves the present with the past as ancient tales surface and the terrifying truth is revealed. Directed by Philip Franks, The Croft will set pulses racing - further details to be announced.

• MURDER AT MIDNIGHT

  A brand-new instalment in Torben Betts’ thriller series, this world premiere will open in Autumn 2025. Murder at Midnight blends razor-sharp wit with chilling suspense, proving that even the best-laid plans can unravel spectacularly when the wrong people are in the wrong place… at exactly the wrong time. Further details to be announced.

Alastair Whatley, Artistic Director of Original Theatre, said: “As Original Theatre hits 20 years on the road it seemed only right to reflect and look back at the incredible journey the company has been on, from early days in back gardens and cliff tops to playing some of the most prestigious theatres in the country.

“Our 20th anniversary season marries the best of Original, from new writing, to epic adaptations on big stages to punchy revivals in intimate spaces, shows in London, shows in Birmingham, shows in Newcastle, shows in Bury St Edmunds, shows in fact in all four corners of the UK and watched - thanks to Original Online - from all four corners of the world.”

Since Artistic Director Alastair Whatley founded Original Theatre in 2004, the team has mastered the art of theatre production to become a lead player in the UK’s touring theatre scene. Commercial and artistic successes include Sebastian Faulks’s Birdsong, Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d and Torben Betts’ Murder in the Dark.

For more information, visit the Original Theatre website.