By Grace Hatchell
Well, pop the kettle on and make room in the satchel, because Birmingham Rep is handing its stages over to the next generation of performers, theatre-makers, storytellers and creative troublemakers this July — and honestly, it sounds like the sort of festival where you go in for one show and come out three weeks later clutching a programme, humming a Shakespearean Eurovision number and wondering whether a pigeon needs its own agent.
Rep Rising 26 takes place at Birmingham Rep from Wednesday 1 July to Sunday 19 July, bringing together young performers, emerging artists and early career theatre-makers across The Studio and The Door. The festival features four headline productions — The Red Shoes, Jane Eyre, Antigone and 1984 — performed by young actors from The Rep’s celebrated training companies, aged between 14 and 26.
And that’s just the opening flap of the envelope.
Alongside those headline shows, the festival includes a packed line-up of one-off performances from emerging artists and theatre-makers from Birmingham, the Black Country and beyond. We’re talking benefits system drama, estate memories, gothic horror, Black British family dynamics, a bathroom pigeon situation, and yes, a Eurovision/Shakespeare mashup.
Some festivals gently knock on the door. This one appears to have arrived with tap shoes, a custard cream and a morally complicated Greek tragedy.
Rachel Sharpe, Creative Learning Director at Birmingham Rep, describes Rep Rising 26 as “a celebration of the extraordinary creativity, commitment and talent of the young people, artists and communities we work with throughout the year.”
She adds that audiences will see “the results of months of collaboration, imagination and hard work, from first ideas in rehearsal rooms through to bold performances on our stages.”
And that, dear reader, is exactly the sort of thing that makes this postwoman’s theatre-loving heart do a little skip. Not a full contemporary dance sequence, mind. I’ve got mailbags to carry and knees that remember the 2000s.
The Red Shoes
Wednesday 1 – Friday 3 July
The Studio
Rep Studio 8, Birmingham Rep’s intensive training programme for emerging actors aged 18 to 26, opens the festival with The Red Shoes.
This is Nancy Harris’s bold, contemporary retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s dark fairy tale, and if you think red shoes sound innocent, think again. These are not your “quick pop to the shops” shoes. These are dazzling, dangerous, life-spinning shoes with drama stitched into the soles.
The story follows an orphaned young woman taken in by a wealthy family, where she is expected to stay quiet and behave herself. But when she slips on a pair of red shoes, her hunger for freedom can no longer be contained.
Dance, desire, destruction — and footwear with more emotional baggage than my satchel after press release season.
Jane Eyre
Tuesday 7 – Wednesday 8 July
The Studio
Birmingham Rep’s Young Rep Seniors, made up of performers aged 14 to 18, take on Polly Teale’s imaginative adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
This version brings Jane’s emotional journey to the stage with rich ensemble storytelling, atmospheric movement and the powerful presence of Bertha, the “woman in the attic”, shown as a living embodiment of Jane’s suppressed fears and desires.
It’s a bold choice for young performers, but a cracking one. Jane Eyre is all loneliness, resilience, identity, longing, mystery and “sir, I may be small but I have a backbone made of iron.” In other words, ideal theatre material.
The Rep describes it as fierce, haunting and deeply human. I describe it as exactly the sort of classic that can still grab you by the collar if performed with honesty.
Antigone
Friday 10 – Monday 13 July
The Studio
The Company, Birmingham Rep’s theatre ensemble for young adults aged 18 to 26, presents Antigone, adapted by bestselling writer and poet Hollie McNish.
Born into tragedy and destined for defiance, Antigone refuses to accept injustice after her brothers die fighting for Thebes. In defiance of King Creon, she buries both of their bodies — a choice that may cost her dearly.
This is Sophocles reimagined for now, with McNish’s warmth and wit woven through a story about power, conscience, rebellion, love and legacy.
Basically, if you’ve ever looked at someone in charge and thought, “Are you absolutely sure about that decision, mate?” then Antigone may have something to say to you.
1984
Friday 17 – Saturday 18 July
The Studio
Young Rep Seniors return with 1984, George Orwell’s dystopian classic adapted for the stage by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan.
Winston Smith is an ordinary man trapped in a nightmare world where reality is rewritten, independent thought is crushed, and every move is watched.
Cheery? Not exactly. Important? Absolutely.
This staging is described as tense, unsettling and strikingly contemporary. Which is theatre-speak for “you may leave slightly pale, but in a meaningful way.”
The Anatomy of Evil
Thursday 9 July
The Door
Sparkhouse Ensemble, in collaboration with Box House Theatre Company, brings The Anatomy of Evil to The Door.
This visceral reimagining of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde comes from post-A Level students and university graduates returning to the Cotswolds. It blends physical theatre, gothic horror and visually bold theatrical techniques to expose Dr Henry Jekyll’s full descent into obsession, paranoia and self-destruction.
Supported by Edward Bennett, the production is suitable for audiences aged 12 and above and offers an introduction to stylised and experimental performance-making.
So, one for those who like their theatre dark, physical and slightly “maybe don’t watch this alone after midnight.”
POINT-SCORING
Friday 10 July
The Door
Black Country actor and theatre-maker Jessica Mabel presents a staged work-in-progress of POINT-SCORING, a solo performance inspired by conversations with claimants and appointees of Personal Independence Payment, or PIP, from the Midlands.
The show follows E, a mother of two young boys who has previously applied and failed for PIP. With help from her husband, she tries again while dealing with her own real-time struggles — including the universal parental terror of hosting a child’s birthday party.
Honestly, if you can survive both the benefits system and a room full of overexcited children near cake, you deserve a medal, a nap and possibly your own West End transfer.
The production uses research, projections, soundscapes and props to create a multimedia piece exploring psychiatric conditions, the benefits system and the lives of people navigating it in the Midlands.
This sounds like one of the festival’s most socially urgent pieces.
Benji’s Boutique
Saturday 11 July
The Door
Birmingham-born actor, writer and director Stefan Davis shares the first act of his brand-new production Benji’s Boutique in a script-in-hand performance.
The show centres on Benji, a loud and charismatic frontman who thrives on image, status and presence. Behind the scenes, his sister Shaneen is the sharp strategic mind keeping the business afloat while rarely getting the credit. Kimberly and Alexis bring their own humour, tension and perspective into the mix.
Set against early to mid-2000s UK garage, fashion and the shift from high street culture into the digital era, Benji’s Boutique sounds like a pressure cooker of family, ambition, humour and sharp dialogue.
A modern Black British family drama with big personalities and playful confrontation? Yes please. I’ll deliver that straight to the top of the pile.
Lyndhurst Memories
Thursday 16 July
The Door
Birmingham-based artist CJ Lloyd Webley brings Lyndhurst Memories, an immersive and explosive original piece of ensemble theatre.
Originally commissioned by Midlands Arts Centre in 2025, the project draws on lived experience, oral history and CJ’s own reflections on the former Lyndhurst Estate, now Abbeyfields, in Erdington.
Blending humour, warmth and tension, the show captures the energy, contradictions and resilience of growing up on the estate through naturalistic dialogue, stylised movement and overlapping voices.
I always have a soft spot for work rooted in real communities. The places people grow up in aren’t just backdrops. They’re characters. They shape how people speak, dream, defend themselves, remember themselves and carry home around with them.
There’s a Pigeon in My Bathroom
Friday 17 July
The Door
Now, I am trying to remain professional here, but There’s a Pigeon in My Bathroom may be one of the finest titles ever delivered to my satchel.
Based on a true story, this sitcom-like play follows four Birmingham students, one pigeon and absolutely no common sense.
Ben, Emma, Katie and Hugo attempt to remove a domesticated, common and definitely terrified pigeon from their upstairs bathroom. The chaos involves fire extinguishers, a custard cream, friendship strain and the very real threat of losing a deposit.
The show is described as somewhere between Derry Girls and The Inbetweeners.
Frankly, if that pigeon doesn’t get a curtain call, I’ll be writing a strongly worded note.
All The World’s A Stage: The Shakespeare/Eurovision Mashup
Saturday 18 July
The Door
There are concepts, and then there are concepts that burst through the door wearing sequins and shouting “Good evening, Verona!”
All The World’s A Stage: The Shakespeare/Eurovision Mashup is a Eurovision-style concert show where modern versions of Shakespearean characters represent the country setting of their play.
Heroes, villains, lovers and comedians become K-pop-style bands, arrogant rappers, pop divas and tragic rockstars, all competing for the winning title.
With a historical host, interactive audience vote and songs to get everyone weekend-ready, this promises a brand-new and subtly educational spin on Shakespeare’s most iconic characters.
Subtly educational is my favourite kind of educational. Like when someone teaches you iambic pentameter but distracts you with glitter.
See Me Now
Wednesday 8 July
The Door
See Me Now comes from Creative Futures, an 18-month Barings Foundation funded programme working with young men in Birmingham through theatre, film and wellbeing practice.
The programme explores identity, isolation and connection, supporting participants to develop their creative voices and skills. At Rep Rising 26, the project will share two original film screenings alongside short monologues offering further insight into the participants’ experiences and creative journeys.
Creative Futures is facilitated by Rachel Sharpe, Leon Phillips, Lia Walker, Nigel Bailey, Nicola Prestage and CJ Webley.
This sounds like a thoughtful and important evening, giving space to young men’s stories in a way that combines creativity, wellbeing and honest expression.
The Bad Luck Club
Saturday 11 July
The Studio
The Bad Luck Club is being created by Young Rep Juniors, who are devising their own piece about what it might be like to be a really unlucky child.
In this imaginary world, children who are constantly involved in accidents or who always seem to have a bad day are sent to a school for unlucky children to protect them from the outside world.
But is the school really safe? And have these children truly been born unlucky?
Now, as someone who once dropped a theatre programme into a puddle and then tried to dry it under a hand dryer like a Victorian disaster, I feel personally seen.
Still We Rise
Wednesday 15 July
The Studio
Still We Rise is created by Stories of Hope and Home, a community of people who have fled their homes in search of safety.
Through this devised and written piece, the group explores experiences that have left people feeling trapped and disempowered, while also showing how personal resilience and community support can help them rise up and live joyful, fulfilled lives despite the constraints and struggles they face.
This is the sort of work that reminds you theatre is not just entertainment. Sometimes it is witness. Sometimes it is refuge. Sometimes it is people standing together and saying, “We are still here.”
Four Stories Up: An Elevating Journey
Wednesday 15 July
The Door
Four Stories Up: An Elevating Journey comes from LouDeemY Productions, a Birmingham-based theatre and arts organisation working with participants from across the wider Birmingham community, including vulnerable and marginalised groups.
This interactive arts and storytelling experience explores community and wellbeing through a quirky, pacey and fun theatrical adventure.
The company uses creativity, self-expression and connection as tools for learning, healing and change.
And honestly, anything described as “quirky, pacey and fun” already sounds like it has packed snacks, sensible shoes and a tiny bit of chaos.
Young Rep Collective Showcase
Saturday 18 July
The Studio
Young Rep Collective is Birmingham Rep’s new musical theatre group, bringing young artists together to create, develop and perform original work.
Their showcase promises brand-new material from talented performers.
New musical theatre from young artists? That’s exactly where sparks can fly. Sometimes the rough edges are where the magic sneaks in.
Grimm Tales
Saturday 18 July
The Studio
Young Rep Inters present Grimm Tales, a bold and imaginative reworking of classic fairy tales.
This production blends dark humour, physical storytelling and ensemble-driven performance, diving into the eerie but playful world of some of our best-loved stories.
Fairy tales are never as innocent as they pretend to be, are they? One minute it’s breadcrumbs and woodland cottages, the next it’s existential dread in a bonnet.
Young Rep Inters will bring the tales to life through inventive staging, striking physicality and fearless performance.
Why Rep Rising 26 Matters
What makes Rep Rising 26 exciting is not just the number of shows, though goodness knows the programme is busy enough to need its own filing system.
It’s the range.
You’ve got classic texts being reimagined by young performers. You’ve got new work about benefits, identity, estates, migration, wellbeing and community. You’ve got gothic horror, musical theatre, Shakespeare in Eurovision mode and a pigeon causing domestic havoc.
That is a proper festival ecosystem. Big ideas. Local voices. Young performers. Emerging artists. Serious work. Silly work. Political work. Personal work. Work with feathers.
Theatre needs this. It needs places where new talent can test ideas, step forward, take risks and feel what it is to meet an audience.
And audiences need it too. Because somewhere in this festival might be a performer, writer, director, designer or theatre-maker we’ll all be talking about in ten years’ time.
Grace’s satchel verdict? Rep Rising 26 looks like a lively, generous and properly important celebration of the next generation. Birmingham Rep is opening the door, and a whole lot of young talent is stepping through it.
Possibly followed by a pigeon.
Rep Rising 26 runs at Birmingham Rep from Wednesday 1 July to Sunday 19 July.
To book, visit birmingham-rep.co.uk or call the Box Office on 0121 236 4455.
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