Theatre503 announces its first season programmed under the new creative leadership of Artistic Director Anthony Simpson-Pike and Executive Director Emily Carewe. Running until early 2027, this bold new chapter features groundbreaking plays by writers from the UK, USA, Ukraine, and Palestine, telling powerful stories that have not been seen on stage before.
Introducing an innovative shift to its producing model, seed-funded by the season’s lead supporters PW Productions, the venue premieres more of its own in-house productions than ever before whilst celebrating partnerships with leading companies including Good Chance, Theatre Royal Plymouth, and White Kite Collective. The season also spotlights the power of the debut play by – for the first time ever – reviving a classic debut from the contemporary canon. Beyond its stage, Theatre503’s commitment to community engagement sits at the heart of the 503Studio as it expands its work with schoolchildren, local communities, and writers.
‘I am so excited to be launching my tenure at Theatre503 with a season of work that encapsulates the importance and power of debut voices. Brave and ambitious, these works explore some of the biggest subjects of our day – from Donbas to Palestine – while reaching into every facet of what it means to be human. From the joy and complexity of coming-of-age in the first-ever revival of Chewing Gum Dreams to the (sometimes haunting) intensity of love explored in Boo! and love you long time (already), and even what it means to not feel human in kat, this season embodies what I find most thrilling about new writing.’
– Anthony Simpson-Pike, Artistic Director & Co-CEO
‘This season, and the pilot of our new producing model, is a bold and ambitious commitment to shining a light on the vitality of debut work. We are hugely grateful to PW Productions, and all our producing and philanthropic partners across the season, for their support and belief in the future of new writing. We look forward to welcoming audiences, new and old, to our building over the next year.’
– Emily Carewe, Executive Director & Co-CEO
‘We are proud and delighted to be supporting Theatre503’s productions for 2026/27. Having long admired this powerhouse venue and its fierce commitment to new work and new writers, we see our support as a vital investment in the health of our industry.’ – Iain Gillie & Zoë Simpson, PW Productions
The season opens in February 2026 with Donbas by Olga Braga, winner of the 2025 Theatre503 International Playwriting Award. This will be Anthony Simpson-Pike’s first play as Artistic Director, produced in partnership with Good Chance and 45North.
Further debuts premiering include plays by Vietnamese-American writer Katie Ðỗ with love you long time (already); New York based playwright Nazareth Hassan with kat; and Alistair Hall’s Boo!, co-produced with Theatre Royal Plymouth and premiering at Theatre503 before transferring to Plymouth. As part of the season, Theatre503 is proud to host the White Kite Collective’s week-long festival showcasing new writing by Palestinian playwrights from historic Palestine and the diaspora.
Theatre503 is acclaimed as the home of debut playwrights and remains the only UK theatre dedicated to presenting first-time plays. For the first time ever on its stage, the venue launches a new strand celebrating the power of the debut through a revival of one that reshaped the theatre landscape. Michaela Coel’s Chewing Gum Dreams, directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike, marks the beginning of this exciting series. The play was originally developed by The Yard in association with the Bush in 2012, before transferring to The Shed at the National Theatre in 2014.
This new season follows a busy Autumn 2025 at Theatre503, with short runs of new plays by eight emerging writers, a programme of courses and masterclasses (both online and in-person), and a three-week run of Loop (10–29 November), the debut play by Tanya-Loretta Dee.
5 – 28 February 2026
Donbas by Olga Braga, Directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike
A Theatre503, Good Chance and 45North Production in association with Seventh Productions
‘What do you do when your brother is trying to kill you, Ivan?’
Recently returned home from Russian imprisonment, Sashko’s father Seryoga is trying to keep him safe as the world unravels. Ivan’s chasing Vera, Vera’s chasing the perfect Claudia Schiffer blonde – and overhead, in Ukrainian skies, the planes are getting closer.
From the winner of Theatre503’s International Playwriting Award, Olga Braga’s searing debut Donbas asks what it means to live together when we are tearing each other apart.
1 – 6 June 2026
Tomorrow Will Be A Palestinian Day
Presented by White Kite Collective and Bet’n Lev Theatre
‘Tomorrow Will Be A Palestinian Day’ – Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta
White Kite Collective and Bet’n Lev Theatre present a week of new work by Palestinian writers from across historic Palestine and the diaspora.
The festival will feature new plays and extracts from established and emerging Palestinian playwrights.
2 – 25 July 2026
love you long time (already) by Katie Ðỗ
A Theatre503 Production
‘I’m really trying to be in love with you but I can’t stop remembering…’
Mai’s heaven is reliving her engagement to her unfaithful husband. Her daughter Tâm is desperate to understand her mother’s life. As time slips away and dreams overlap, Mai and Tâm must make the right choices before heaven comes for them again.
love you long time (already) by Katie Đỗ is a funny and moving intergenerational epic about mothers and daughters, migration and memory, the ties that bind us and the cost of breaking free from them.
10 September – 3 October 2026
Chewing Gum Dreams by Michaela Coel, Directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike
A Theatre503 Production
‘I looked into his face so close I found his dreams and wanted dem. And I – I had them – I had some – mines you know?’
Tracey Gordon is growing up fast, and you’ll want to come along for the ride.
Chewing Gum Dreams is Michaela Coel’s unforgettable debut. A fierce, funny, and big hearted journey through first love, last days of school, and the moments that shape who we become.
Theatre503 celebrates this classic debut and vital part of our contemporary canon with a production that reminds us where some of our most powerful voices began.
14 January – 6 February 2027
Boo! by Alistair Hall
A Theatre503 and Theatre Royal Plymouth Co-Production
BILL: Are you angry?
TONY: No, I’m dead.
Bill is hoping for a reset after Tony. Retreating to his mum’s flat by the sea, he searches for a way to move on. Ice Cream. Karaoke. Ketamine. Nothing works. But when he forms a connection with a local barman, Tony’s ghost appears.
Boo! is a haunting and tender new play by Alistair Hall that asks what it means to hold on when letting go might be the only way to survive.
4 – 27 March 2027
kat by Nazareth Hassan
A Theatre503 Production
‘Meow meow meow meow meow meow’
Kat lives at home with her ultra-religious mother and stepfather, saying grace before dinner, working a dead-end job and dodging questions about why she’s not married yet. But when Kat escapes to her room, she puts on her whiskers, her paws and her tail, and becomes herself.
kat is a funny and remarkably relatable tale of transhumanism, furries and religion, and a startling examination of the defences we deploy to protect ourselves from the evil of others.
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