By Grace Hatchell, writing this from the Belgrade Theatre noticeboard, where I only came to pin up one flyer and now appear to have accidentally booked myself into half of Coventry’s cultural calendar.
Belgrade Theatre Coventry has announced details of its 2026 autumn/winter season and beyond, including After Party, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Sirens, The Silence of the Lambs, Nanny of the Maroons, comedy, music, family shows and more
Every so often, a theatre announces a season that feels less like a list of shows and more like someone has opened the doors to a very busy village hall and shouted: “Right then, who’s got a story?”
Belgrade Theatre Coventry has done exactly that.
The theatre has announced details of its 2026 autumn/winter season and beyond, and it is a proper mixed hamper of drama, music, comedy, family entertainment, new writing, co-productions, big touring titles and the sort of theatrical variety that makes me want to sharpen a pencil, clear me diary and apologise in advance to my bicycle.
At the heart of the announcement is a programme that reaches across new work, major partnerships and community-rooted storytelling, with Artistic Director Corey Campbell, Interim CEO Emma Flatley and the team at the Belgrade unveiling a season that includes co-productions with Paines Plough, Traverse Theatre Company and Leeds Playhouse, alongside a brand-new National Theatre production.
And no, before anyone asks, I did not read that sentence and immediately whisper “ooh, fancy” into my satchel.
I said it at full volume.
One of the major titles is After Party, a co-production with Paines Plough and Traverse Theatre Company. Described as having biting wit, theatrical flair and unexpected tenderness, the show brings a family together for one unforgettable night as tensions rise and truths begin to tumble out. It asks what we owe each other and how we choose to live — and leave.
Which, frankly, sounds like every family gathering after someone has brought up the inheritance, the seating plan or who still has the good Tupperware.
After Party will preview at the Belgrade as part of the See It First programme from Thursday 30 July to Saturday 1 August, before returning after its Edinburgh Fringe Festival run from Wednesday 9 September to Saturday 12 September.
Also heading to the Belgrade is The King’s Speech, from the Barn Theatre and written by David Seidler. Playing from Tuesday 19 January to Saturday 23 January 2027, the story follows Bertie, an unprepared king facing a constitutional crisis, a country on the brink of war and a speech impediment that stands between him and a nervous public desperate for hope.
Now, I know a thing or two about being nervous in public. Once I had to ask for directions in Leeds and accidentally called a train platform “the stage.” But even I’ll admit Bertie had slightly more pressure on him.
The National Theatre’s brand-new production of Jim Cartwright’s The Rise and Fall of Little Voice will come to the Belgrade from Tuesday 16 February to Saturday 20 February 2027. It arrives as part of the National Theatre’s landmark nationwide partnership to boost access to theatre across the West Midlands.
The production will also be the first National Theatre show to tour as part of NT Nationwide, supported by funding from Arts Council England. Directed by Deputy Artistic Director Robert Hastie, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is described as a joyful, tender and bittersweet celebration of music, ambition and the courage it takes to be heard, with iconic music from the likes of Judy Garland and Shirley Bassey.
And honestly, a story about finding your voice? In a theatre? With Judy and Shirley floating about the atmosphere? That is not a show, that is emotional glitter in sensible shoes.
Then there is The Silence of the Lambs, making its world stage-play premiere. Based on Thomas Harris’s psychological thriller, the production stars John Partridge as Hannibal Lecter and comes to Coventry from Tuesday 30 March to Saturday 3 April 2027.
Dr Hannibal Lecter will see you now, apparently.
I will not be seeing him now.
I will be seeing him from a very respectful distance, preferably near an exit, with a pork pie for emotional support.
The season also includes Sirens, a co-production with Leeds Playhouse, written by Leeds Playhouse Artistic Director and Coventry-born writer Tom Wright. Running from Wednesday 7 April to Saturday 10 April 2027, Sirens is described as a witty, intimate and deeply human new play about ordinary people thrown together in extraordinary circumstances.
I do love that phrase: ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. That’s theatre at its best, isn’t it? People trying to hold themselves together while life throws the furniture about.
Another significant production is Nanny of the Maroons, telling the true story of the legendary 18th-century freedom fighter. Written by Belgrade Theatre Artistic Director Corey Campbell and Lucia Haynes, and directed by Campbell and Justine Themen, the production has been developed through the Belgrade’s co-creation process, engaging communities as part of its creative development. West Midlands-based producers China Plate will support the production as Executive Producers. It premieres from Friday 18 June to Saturday 3 July 2027.
That one already feels important. Not just because of the history, but because of the way the Belgrade talks about making work with communities, not simply about them. There’s a difference there, and it matters.
Elsewhere in the season, Bright Places arrives for one night only on Friday 2 October. A darkly funny and deeply honest autobiographical story about growing up in the shadow of chronic illness, it brings together 90s pop, a costume box and a whole heap of glitter.
Presented by The Big House, Blaze FM follows from Wednesday 7 to Thursday 8 October. Co-written by Grime MC Jammz and James Meteyard, it is described as an explosive piece of political theatre weaving Grime, Garage, Drill and Jungle tracks through eighty minutes of powerful performance.
Then, for those of us who like our theatre with creeping dread and a strong chance of clutching the person next to us, It Walks Around The House at Night plays on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 October. Written by Tim Foley, it promises a ghost story for a new era, brought to life through inventive staging, immersive sound, bold visual effects, unexpected twists and dark humour.
I am not saying I’m scared of ghost stories.
I am saying if anything walks around my house at night, it can help with the washing up.
For families, The Mystery of The Belgrade Theatre runs from Thursday 29 to Saturday 31 October. From the creators of I Believe in Unicorns, this interactive, board-game-style theatre show invites trainee detectives to solve secrets, watch video footage and follow clues.
That sounds exactly like my sort of thing, mainly because I already spend most of my working week investigating missing envelopes and suspiciously unsigned delivery notes.
On Wednesday 25 November, Critical Care brings an unflinching, compassionate tribute to ICU nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following four nurses whose lives changed almost overnight, the production is described as deeply human and a vital reminder of experiences that must not be forgotten.
The Belgrade’s season also stretches into music, comedy and live performance. SHE: The Live Experience arrives on Saturday 5 September for a night of afro jazz music and live dance, celebrating women and girls taking up space unapologetically.
An Evening Without Kate Bush follows on Saturday 26 September, with performer Sarah-Louise Young inviting audiences to release their inner Bush, howl with The Hounds of Love and dance on the moors with Wuthering Heights.
Kate’s not there, apparently.
But you are.
And that, frankly, is theatre logic at its finest.
Made You Look plays on Saturday 17 October, blending performance poetry, movement and visual art in a bold one-man show exploring masculinity, identity and the immigrant experience in Britain.
Anything For Love arrives on Thursday 22 October with a band and cast taking audiences through the back catalogue of Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman. If that does not involve at least one person emotionally gripping an imaginary steering wheel under dramatic lighting, I shall be writing to someone.
Comedy comes in the form of Cockney Stacking Doll on Saturday 21 November, with Fatiha El-Ghorri promising strong language, stereotype-smashing and side-splitting laughs.
Looking ahead into 2027, Too Much Too Young – The Music of 2Tone & Beyond plays on Saturday 16 January, celebrating the ska sound that shaped generations, from its Jamaican roots to the British revival of the late 70s and 80s.
Fascinating Aïda follows on Wednesday 27 January 2027, with Dillie, Liza and Adèle back on the road after their 40th Anniversary Tour, joined by Michael Roulston on piano.
Corey Campbell and Emma Flatley said they are incredibly proud to bring such a wide-ranging and ambitious programme to audiences, from bold new co-productions and powerful new writing to major touring drama, live music, comedy and family entertainment. They said the season reflects the Belgrade’s commitment to telling stories that resonate with communities, championing new voices and creating unforgettable shared experiences.
And that, for me, is the thread running through all of this.
Yes, there are famous titles. Yes, there are major partnerships. Yes, there is Hannibal Lecter lurking in the corner making everyone nervous. But there is also a real sense of the Belgrade doing what regional theatres do at their best: gathering people in, making space for different voices, and reminding us that theatre is not one thing.
It can be political.
It can be funny.
It can be musical, spooky, tender, furious, silly, historical, glittery, uncomfortable, joyful and deeply human.
Sometimes all before the interval.
Belgrade Theatre Coventry’s autumn/winter season feels like a proper invitation: come for the big names, stay for the new stories, and don’t assume you already know what belongs on a stage.
As for me, I’m off to reorganise my satchel by genre.
Drama in the front pocket. Comedy in the side pouch. Ghost stories wrapped in a scarf.
And Hannibal Lecter?
He can collect his own post.
Tickets for all shows are on sale via www.belgrade.co.uk/whats-on
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