The Royal Exchange Theatre Autumn / Winter Season

Expect to see unexpected spins on classic stories alongside bold new writing by some of the UK’s most exceptional playwrights and theatre-makers in the Royal Exchange Theatre‘s Autumn/Winter Season. Epic and popular tales of love are subverted and injected with new perspectives, inviting audiences to take a fresh look at these familiar texts and also at the world in which we live.

Embracing love in its many different guises – from the electrifying, heartbreaking kind to unexpected friendships and familial connections – the new season invites audiences to celebrate this powerful and complex emotion in all its glory.

With a superb line-up of directors, writers and theatre-makers, four extraordinary productions will take over the theatre’s unique in-the-round space.

Expect to see unexpected spins on classic stories alongside bold new writing by some of the UK’s most exceptional playwrights and theatre-makers.

From 8 September to 7 October, the Royal Exchange and Tamasha Theatre join forces for a powerful reworking of the Charles Dickens classic, Great Expectations. Adapted by Tanika Gupta and directed by Pooja Shah, Dickens is given a fresh twist in this new stage adaptation. Shifting the action from Victorian England to the colonial backdrop of 1903 Bengal, India, this new translation explores themes of class, caste and race.

Theatre and film director Nicholai La Barrie makes his Royal Exchange debut with a contemporary retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet from 20 October to 18 November. Capturing the hope and tragedy of love, the greatest love story of all time is brought bang-up-to-date for Manchester audiences. Celebrating vitality and diversity, youth, love and aspiration, this thrilling production offers an alternative vision of hope in hard times.

The Royal Exchange Theatre’s Christmas production is always a highlight in the festive calendar and this year brings a real delight.

The Royal Exchange Theatre’s Christmas production is always a highlight in the festive calendar and this year brings a real delight. Sarah Frankcom returns to direct Emma Rice’s smash-hit adaptation of Noël Coward’s Brief Encounter. Running from 2 December to 13 January, expect wit, warmth and song in this heart-stopping story of forbidden love. The perfect winter warmer for glorious romantics across the city this Christmas.

Phoebe Eclair-Powell’s 2019 Bruntwood Prize-winning play – Shed: Exploded View – closes the theatre’s striking Autumn/ Winter Season. Running from 9 February to 2 March, this delicately woven and stirring world premiere explores violence, love and loss. Directed by Atri Banerjee, this stunning and fearless production promises to tackle some of the darkest facets of humanity with honesty and elegance.

The Royal Exchange Theatre’s Autumn/ Winter Season is fuelled by some of the most revered love stories.

Of this spectacular season of performance, Bryony Shanahan and Roy Alexander Weise told us, “This autumn we’ll be supporting the brilliant teams creating Great Expectations and Romeo & Juliet. We’re incredibly proud to have programmed these epic shows as part of this season and the last during our tenure at the Exchange. The theatre has a reputation for delivering classics with a twist and we have loved working with, imagining and dreaming big with Pooja, Tanika and Nicholai – discovering what these plays can offer audiences today. It feels particularly special to bring these visionary artists to our wonderful spaceship to crack open these great stories for future diverse theatre audiences. We cannot wait to get them on stage!”

Don’t leave it too late to book – we don’t want you to miss out.