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Directed by Josie Rourke, Music by Lucy Spraggan

Jeanette Winterson’s novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is being turned into a new musical by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Published in 1985 and now considered a literary classic, the book was also turned into a hit BBC drama starring Charlotte Coleman, Geraldine McEwan and Kenneth Cranham.

Jeanette Winterson told an audience at this week’s Hay Festival that the RSC has bought the rights to her book, which explores Winterson’s Pentecostal upbringing and queer sexual awakening.

The RSC’s musical adaptation is set to be staged at the RSC in 2026, directed by former Donmar Warehouse artistic director Josie Rourke (Mary Queen of Scots).

Music for Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit will be by British singer-songwriter, and former X Factor contestant, Lucy Spraggan.

Co-artistic directors of the RSC, Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey, told The Times that the project “holds true to the RSC’s mission to work with the most exciting artists to tell the most compelling stories of our time”.

“Jeanette Winterson’s debut novel tackles the themes of faith, family, sexual identity and the self with a lightness of touch that continues to resonate across the decades. Its enduring popularity is testament to the power of great storytelling to help deepen our understanding of the world around us and each other and we can’t wait to share more details of the production as and when they develop”, they said.

Winterson told the Festival crowd that: “I’m kind of hoping after 40 years that I might be done with this material but I won’t be because the [RSC] musical is next. We should expect that next year.”

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is the story of Jeanette, born to be one of God’s elect: adopted by a fanatical Pentecostal family and ablaze with her own zeal for the scriptures, she seems perfectly suited for the life of a missionary. But then she converts Melanie, and realises she loves this woman almost as much as she loves the Lord. How on Earth could her Church call that passion Unnatural?

Earlier this week the RSC announced the final shows for its 2025-2026 season including Adrian Lester in a new co-adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac, Sam Heughan and Lia Williams in Macbeth, a stage adaptation of The Forsyte Saga, new musical The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, and Henry V starring Alfred Enoch. These production join previously announced shows including the European premiere of Fat Ham by Pulitzer Prize-winner James Ijames, Yaël Farber directing The Winter’s Tale, and a new musical version of Roald Dahl’s The BFG, directed by Daniel Evans.

Current and forthcoming productions include Hamlet Hail to the Thief, and The Constant Wife starring Rose Leslie and Kate Burton.

Josie Rourke’s forthcoming theatre projects include Porn Play at the Royal Court Theatre, starring One Day’s Ambika Mod.

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Main photo: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit - Josie Rourke (Photo Manuel Harlan), Jeanette Winterson (Photo via publisher), Lucy Spraggan (Photo MP Promotions)

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