Director Matthew Dunster is set to return to Theatre Royal Bath in 2026, directing a new production of David Harrower’s provocative, Olivier Award-winning play Blackbird.
Blackbird will run in the Theatre Royal Bath’s Ustinov Studio from 2 April to 2 May 2026.
In Blackbird, fifteen years ago Una and Ray had a relationship. He was 41 years old. She was 12. They haven’t set eyes on each other since. Now, she’s found him again.
Ray has served a jail sentence and lives under a new identity. When Una turns up unexpectedly at Ray’s bleak factory canteen, the memories of their relationship pour forth, threatening to destroy their lives all over again, and wrong-footing the audience at every turn…
Blackbird first premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2005, transferring to the West End and winning Best New Play at the 2007 Olivier Awards.
Casting and further creatives for the production are to be announced.
More about Matthew Dunster
Matthew Dunster returns to the Ustinov Studio following his current, sell-out production of Hedda, based on Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler and adapted by Dunster. Hedda stars Lily Allen, Imogen Stubbs, Brendan Coyle, Ciaran Owens, Julia Chan and Tom Austen, and is playing until 23 August 2025.
Dunster is also currently directing the epic new stage adaptation of The Hunger Games, with The Hunger Games on Stage playing at the Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre in London from 20 October, adapted by Conor McPherson (The Weir).
His production of 2:22 A Ghost Story is currently touring the UK starring Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton.
Future Matthew Dunster projects include The Battle, a new comedy by John Niven and starring Mathew Horne, charting one of the most iconic rivalries in music history: Oasis vs. Blur.
More shows at Theatre Royal Bath
It was also revealed this week that the RSC’s new production of W. Somerset Maugham’s The Constant Wife is set to play the theatre starring Kara Tointon.
Currently playing at the Theatre Royal Bath is Hedda starring Lily Allen; and As You Like It, directed by Ralph Fiennes, and starring Harriet Walter and Gloria Obianyo.
Blackbird dates and booking
Blackbird is playing at the Ustinov Studio at the Theatre Royal Bath from 2 April to 2 May 2026.
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