Announcing January to July 2018 at the Orange Tree Theatre
A world premiere, European premiere, 3 London premieres and a major contemporary revival form the second half of Artistic Director Paul Miller’s fourth season. Since taking over in 2014, the Orange Tree has won 18 industry awards, most recently London’s Most Welcoming Theatre at the UK Theatre Awards
- The first major revival of Charlotte Jones’ Humble Boy since its National Theatre premiere is directed by Paul Miller.
- The world premiere of Mayfly by Joe White, who was part of the OT Writers Collective in 2016-17, is directed by Guy Jones.
- The European premiere of the Yale Drama Prize-winning play Utility by Emily Schwend is directed by Caitlin McLeod, following the play’s critically acclaimed run in New York in 2016.
- Following their success at the Edinburgh Fringe and on a national tour Paines Plough bring three new plays directed by James Grieve from the Roundabout season to play in repertoire in a co-production with the Orange Tree and Theatr Clwyd. Black Mountain by Brad Birch, Out Of Love by Elinor Cook and How To Be A Kid by Sarah McDonald-Hughes. Hasan Dixon, Katie Elin-Salt and Sally Messham appear in all three.
- An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins transfers to the National Theatre in a co-production in June following its acclaimed European premiere at the Orange Tree directed by Ned Bennett.
- Following its sell out UK premiere run at the Orange Tree, Winter Solstice by Roland Schimmelpfennig will embark on a UK tour from February in our co-production with ATC.
- Our annual Directors’ Festival will feature the work of the Orange Tree’s MA in Theatre Directing with St Mary’s University. Last year’s inaugural Festival produced hugely successful productions, including the London premiere of David Ireland’s The End of Hope, directed by Max Elton, which transferred to Soho Theatre for an acclaimed five-week run.
- The incredibly popular £12 under 30s tickets as well as other concessions continue to be available for all performances to make theatre affordable and accessible at any time. Over 3,000 under 30s came to the OT in the 2016/17 season.
- Our Education & Participation Programme, which works with more than 10,000 participants every year, features Shakespeare Up Close: Romeo and Juliet for secondary school students, directed by Gemma Fairlie, and Primary Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice directed by Imogen Bond, which alone plays to over 4,000 children.
- The OT Young Company will perform Alice Birch’s new play [BLANK] as part of National Theatre Connections, after being selected to perform Alistair McDowall’s Zero for the Young Dudes! in the Oliver in this year’s Festival.
- There are relaxed performances for Mayfly, How To Be A Kid, Romeo & Juliet and The Merchant of Venice, and Stagetext captioned performances and audio-described performances for most productions.
- OT Extras – a popular series of performances of the best music, theatre and spoken word includes singers Claire Martin and Clive Rowe, Colin Hoult as his comic character Anna Mann, and Tim Crouch in his Obie Award-winning international hit An Oak Tree.
Paul Miller, Artistic Director, says: “I am so proud that the Orange Tree is bursting with life as a year-round producing theatre, staging a wide-ranging programme in our unique space, engaging thousands of young people and reaching out to the world via tours and transfers. The 2016/17 season was our most successful to date and these plays will top off the 2017/18 season in high style just as An Octoroon takes to the National Theatre. As a theatre operating without regular Arts Council investment, these successes are shared with the individuals, charitable trusts and businesses that support the OT, and to whom we are hugely thankful.”
Booking opens 29 November
OT Patrons’ and Members’ priority booking opens from 16 November. Click here to find out about becoming a Member.
