Theatre

Creative Tourist

Small-scale theatre is often where things get most interesting – closer, riskier, more immediate. We’re leaning into that in our latest theatre picks across 53two and HOME’s smaller theatre space, with a wider-reaching production at Leeds Playhouse for good measure.

In HOME’s Theatre 2, two works push at form and perspective. Nation brings a unsettling fable about nationhood and how communities narrate themselves into being, while The City for Incurable Women offers a queasy exploration of medical misogyny.

At 53two, things get more intimate and more chaotic. A Sudden, Disturbing To Do List explores one woman’s spiralling OCD, and Funeral Teeth gathers queer fragments of grief in all its forms. And Leeds Playhouse offers something more expansive in The Beekeeper of Aleppo – a journey shaped by war, trauma and fragile human connection.

Our top picks

Nation at HOME

Nation at HOME Manchester, Manchester, 28–30 May 2026, From £19.20 - Book now

Arriving from an acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe run, Nation brings a dark, unsettling fable about nationhood and identity.

Image supplied by Home MCR

A Sudden, Disturbing To Do List at 53two

A Sudden, Disturbing To Do List at 53two, 13 May 2026, From £12.00 - Book now

In this one-woman portrait of living with OCD, Phoebe’s obsession with lists spirals into something darker.

The City for Incurable Women at HOME

The City for Incurable Women at HOME Manchester, Manchester, 2–4 April 2026 - Book now

British-German collective fish in a dress bring a dark, unsettling show tracing hysteria from 19th-century spectacle to today’s misogyny.

Image supplied by Home MCR

The Beekeeper of Aleppo at Leeds Playhouse

The Beekeeper of Aleppo at Leeds Playhouse, Leeds, 28 April–2 May 2026, From £16.50 - Book now

Opening this April at Leeds Playhouse, Christy Lefteri’s international best-seller novel The Beekeeper of Aleppo is brought to the stage in a moving adaptation that places human connection and understanding at the heart of an unimaginable journey. 

Two actors performing on stage. They are both sat on the floor.
Manuel Harlan

Funeral Teeth at 53two

Funeral Teeth at 53two at 53two, 16 May 2026, From £10.00 - Book now

Painfully true and often painfully funny, Funeral Teeth explores grief’s quieter losses – the moments that slip away before you realise they’re gone.

Funeral Teeth Press Image
Succulent Talent

Bus Stop Goths at The Warehouse in Holbeck

Bus Stop Goths at The Warehouse In Holbeck, Leeds, 25 April 2026, From £0.00 - Book now

Fantasy meets punk with a Teesside twist. A joyfully chaotic celebration of youth expression and identity at The Warehouse.

Two goths standing at a bus stop
ARC Stockton

English National Opera: Angel’s Bone at Aviva Studios

English National Opera: Angel's Bone at Aviva Studios, Manchester, 12–16 May 2026, From £10.00 - Book now

This Pulitzer Prize-winning opera brings a dark contemporary parable about exploitation, coercion and the abuse of power, underpinned by a score in which chamber music and cabaret collide with electronica and punk.

Image courtesy of ENO.

Macbeth at Storyhouse, Chester

Macbeth at Storyhouse, Cheshire, Until 21 March 2026, From £20.00 - Book now

Jamie Sophia Fletcher’s new staging of Macbeth lands as a Storyhouse Originals production, with the audience surrounding the action on three sides.

A man (Macbeth) stands in a dark studio lit in vivid green light, with vertical neon-green light bars glowing behind him through light fog. He wears a dark suit jacket over an open-collared shirt, one hand in his pocket, and looks directly at the camera with an intense, brooding expression.
Storyhouse.

Bog Witch at HOME

Bog Witch at HOME Manchester, Manchester, 26–28 March 2026 - Book now

Following a critically acclaimed London run, Bryony Kimmings brings her new, eco-confessional show Bog Witch to HOME.

Image supplied by Home MCR

Return to the Forest at Aviva Studios

Return to the Forest, 7–10 May 2026, From £10.00 - Book now

Return to the Forest is an immersive puppetry and dance experience that treats children’s theatre as a space for serious ideas.

A dancer wearing a light brown costume and puppet mask, moves in a glowing forest of tall blue and golden trees, surrounded by floating firefly-like lights.
Design by Émilie Chen, photograph by Chris Nash

The Angry Brigade at 53two

The Angry Brigade at 53two, 25 March–4 April 2026, From £17.00 - Book now

1970s Britain. Unemployment is soaring. A Tory government is pushing through cuts. Bombs are detonating in British cities. James Graham’s political thriller traces the real-life anarchist collective fighting back against what they saw as a one-sided class war.

Image courtesy of 53two.

The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O’Connor at Aviva Studios

The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O'Connor at Aviva Studios, Manchester, 25–27 June 2026, From £10.00 - Book now

In a world premiere at Aviva Studios, Sinéad O’Connor’s musical power and moral defiance is translated into dance by the Tony Award-winning Sonya Tayeh.

Black and white photograph of Sinéad O'Connor
The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O'Connor. Image by Kate Garner.

Artists in Times of Upheaval: Censorship today with Tribe Arts

Artists in Times of Upheaval: Censorship today with Tribe Arts, 28 March 2026, Free entry - Find Out More

What happens to art when speech is monitored, platforms are fragile and making work carries real risk? That question sits at the heart of this free talk with Leeds-based radical theatre company Tribe Arts.

2 men of colour sat side by side in an atrium. Both wearing black tops, trainers and jeans.
Courtesy of Artists.

Waiting For Godot at Liverpool Everyman

Waiting For Godot at Liverpool Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, Until 4 April 2026, From £13.00 - Book now

Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett’s revolutionary play that changed modern theatre forever – comes to Liverpool Everyman this spring, with acclaimed actors Matthew Kelly and George Costigan in the lead roles.

Two old men, in rough clothes, looking at the camera, against a cloudy sky
George Costigan and Matthew Kelly in Waiting for Godot. Photograph by Peter Dibdin.

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