The Orange Tree Theatre has unveiled a star-studded 2026/2027 season, with Tamsin Greig, Olivia Williams and Claire Skinner leading a line-up spanning Elizabeth Gaskell, Noël Coward, Shakespeare and more. The season will also see the debut of Sapling by Georgina Duncan, which won the 2025 Women’s Prize for Playwriting.
The Orange Tree Theatre has announced full programming for its 2026/2027 season, which is set to include a world premiere, Noël Coward, Shakespeare and more. Tamsin Greig, Claire Skinner and Olivia Williams will lead the season alongside Roger Allam and Freddie Fox.
Artistic Director of the Orange Tree Theatre, Tom Littler, said today:
“The Orange Tree is a home for great writing illuminated by great acting. And what a feast of writing this is: Georgina Duncan’s new play, Sapling, winner of the 2025 Women’s Prize for Playwriting; Shaun McKenna and Lin Coghlan adapting Elizabeth Gaskell; the world premiere of Penelope Skinner’s new comedy; Noël Coward’s scorching breakout; and of course, two masterpieces from William Shakespeare. There’s no better theatre to watch a world-class performance up close.
A World Premiere
Georgina Duncan’s Sapling, which won of the 2025 Women’s Prize for Playwriting, will have its world premiere at Orange Tree, directed by Claire O’Reilly and co-produced by Sheffield Theatres, Paines Plough and the Women’s Prize for Playwriting. Set in Northern Ireland in 1990, the play follows Gerry, a young man whose life is upended when his brother’s killer is released under a new identity a decade after the murder. It opens in June 2027, before transferring to Sheffield in July.
Orange Tree Season Highlights
More highlights from the season include:
- Multi-award-winning actress Tamsin Greig leads the company in Cranford, adapted by Lin Coghlan and Shaun McKenna from Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel and directed by Josh Roche.
- Joining the previously announced Roger Allam and Freddie Fox in King Lear and Richard II will be Arthur Hughes and Amber James, performing the two Shakespeare plays in repertory.
- Noël Coward’s The Vortex will be led by Olivia Williams, marking her OT debut, directed by Jonathan Munby.
- Claire Skinner makes her OT debut in the title role of Penelope Skinner’s new comedy Infamous Anne, directed by Charlotte Gwinner.
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