Park Theatre announces three new writing premieres for 2027 season

Park Theatre has announced an ambitious new writing season for its Park90 studio space, running from March to July 2027.

Park Theatre’s Artistic Director Jez Bond and the team at the acclaimed Finsbury Park venue will present three plays that challenge expectations and celebrate bold storytelling: the London premiere of Birdcatcher by Papatango Prize-winning playwright Laura Waldren, and world premieres of Let the Whale Die by Meg Schadler and The Gentleman of Wimbledon by Oliver Lehne.

The Park90 2027 season is made up of productions aiming to explore individuals confronting the world around them and finding the courage to make their own choices, ranging from darkly comic coming-of-age stories to intimate historical dramas about love, survival and political consequence.

Birdcatcher: A coming-of-age story

The London premiere of Birdcatcher is written by Laura Waldren and directed by BAFTA-winning Pentabus Artistic Director Elle While, and stars Lucy Mangan.

The play follows a coming-of-age story about finding your voice inside an apocalyptic high-control group, and has wit running through its darker edges as it explores the pressures of growing up in a world where the end is always just around the corner.

Birdcatcher will run between 2-27 March 2027, and the creative team includes set and costume design by Amy Jane Cook, lighting design by Jessie Addinall, sound design by Helen Skiera and movement direction by Asha Jennings-Grant.

Let the Whale Die: A journey into rebellion

The world premiere of Let the Whale Die by Meg Schadler is also running as part of Park90 between 4-15 May 2027.

The play centres on a girl whose one job was to keep the aquarium’s star orca alive. but now it’s dead everyone wants answers. Her mother, husband, boss and the world demand to know why, however, Girl doesn’t want to explain herself. As pressure mounts, what looks like a crisis to everyone else feels like a new beginning.

Schadler’s unsettling journey into the mind of a woman who has stopped explaining herself and has no intention of giving people what they expect promises to provoke and challenge audiences.

Directed by New Perspectives’ Artistic Director and CEO Angharad Jones, this darkly funny and provocative new play explores rebellion, expectation and the courage to escape your cage.

The Gentleman of Wimbledon: Love and survival

Based on an extraordinary true story, The Gentleman of Wimbledon will receive its world premiere from 16 June-10 July 2027.

The play is set in 1930s Berlin, where Baron Gottfried von Cramm has the world at his feet. An aristocrat, international tennis sensation and one of Germany’s most celebrated sporting heroes, his future seems assured, but away from the tennis court, Gottfried inhabits a very different world of queer love, pleasure and freedom in Weimar Berlin. As Germany descends into fascism, his fame offers increasingly precarious protection, and caught between love, loyalty and survival, Gottfried faces impossible choices in a world where even private relationships carry political consequences.

Written by New York-based playwright Oliver Lehne and directed by award-winning director Matthew Iliffe, the production is presented in the round.

Park Theatre’s legacy

In thirteen years, Park Theatre has enjoyed 10 West End transfers, including Rose starring Maureen Lipman, The Boys in the Band starring Mark Gatiss, Pressure starring David Haig, two National Theatre transfers, 14 national tours, and seven Olivier Award nominations.

The venue has also won multiple OffWestEnd Offie Awards, a Theatre of the Year award from The Stage, and their inaugural Campaign of the Year award in 2025.

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Main photo: Park90: Park Theatre productions running between March and July 2027.