Jermyn Street Theatre Reveals Autumn Season

Jermyn Street Theatre has announced its Autumn Season.

Following a remarkable six months, which has included Roy Williams's sold-out adaptation of Sam Selvon's The Lonely Londoners – transferring to Kiln Theatre next January - and the critically acclaimed Laughing Boy by Stephen Unwin (after Justice For Laughing Boy by Sara Ryan), Jermyn Street Theatre's thirtieth anniversary continues into the Autumn with a season that offers a rich variety of work created in collaboration with a mix of friends, old and new.

Kicking it all off, in a happy reunion with Guildford Shakespeare Company, is Abigail Pickard Price's effervescent adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, which brings some of literature's most beloved characters to the stage.  Then hot on those Regency heels and following her enthusiastically received production of Orlando in 2022, Stella Powell-Jones is reunited with playwright Sarah Ruhl for Eurydice, a re-conception of an ancient myth drawn from Ruhl's signature imagination, wit, and longing. Finally, to round of this momentous year, Jermyn Street Theatre once again partners with Charles Court Opera to present Napoleon: Un Petit Pantomime, an anarchic romp that reimagines the life and loves of that small man with big ambitions, l'Empereur immortel Monsieur Napoleon Bonaparte.

Intermingled with these three productions, is a cornucopia of short runs and single nights. These include Janie Dee's Beautiful World Cabaret, which marks Janie's return after her award-nominated performance in Laughing Boy and continuing Jermyn Street Theatre's association with the work of Samuel Beckett, the premiere of Not Beckett, a year-long rolling international premiere of work by writers commissioned to create new plays in response to the work of the great Irish writer.

Prior to the autumn season, Jermyn Street Theatre presents the previously announced Adrian Lukis in Being Mr Wickham in June followed by a rare revival of John Van Druten's The Voice of the Turtle in July. These are followed by a programme of Summer Visitors, which includes the King of Cabaret himself, Stefan Bednarczyk. 

Speaking about the upcoming season Stella Powell-Jones said, “Thirty years ago, our wonderful Executive Director Penny Horner came down the stairs at 16b Jermyn Street for the first time. Where others saw only the upstairs restaurant's defunct changing room, Penny could see what could be: a studio theatre right in the heart of the West End. At their core stories of adventure, these shows insist on the power of imagination: a fitting tribute to the journey begun that day in 1994.  Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice even centres on a heroine's trip down the stairs!  The best birthday celebrations introduce old friends and new. And so, this season brings together some of our most beloved stories and distinguished writers and actors with new thrilling voices.”

David Doyle added, "As well as thrilling audiences in the very heart of the West End, this year we're bringing Jermyn Street Theatre out of the building. We're delighted to be launching Not Beckett this season. Five writers of Irish descent premiere newly commissioned plays, inspired by a seed of Beckett's work at Jermyn Street Theatre, before heading off on an international tour. Beckett electrified London when his work premiered, and this incredible cohort of writers are going to do exactly the same. We're also delighted that our sold-out run of The Lonely Londoners will transfer to Kiln Theatre in January while Boy in Da Korma plays at the Edinburgh Fringe after a critically acclaimed run at our Footprints Festival. These transfers will allow even more audiences to see the phenomenal new writing that we've been producing in our 30th birthday year."

Pride & Prejudice

19 August - 7 September

A Guildford Shakespeare Company production

By Jane Austen

Adapted by Abigail Pickard Price with Sarah Gobran & Matt Pinches.

Directed by Abigail Pickard Price

I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.

The Bennet family's peaceful world is upended when a host of eligible bachelors descend upon the neighbourhood. Hearts race, tongues wag, and passions and possibilities swirl all around the Hertfordshire Hills. At the centre of the storm, the meeting of Lizzie Bennet and Mr Darcy sets off one of literature's most iconic love stories.

Abigail Pickard Price returns to Jermyn Street Theatre with her hilarious, inventive adaptation of Jane Austen's beloved romantic comedy. Three actors bring a host of Austen's unforgettable characters to life in the London premiere of Guildford Shakespeare Company's sparkling production.

Janie Dee's Beautiful World Cabaret

24 - 28 September

An OnBook Theatre and London Climate Change Festival production

Written, directed and performed by Janie Dee.

All the world's a stage, now let's protect it!

Join Janie Dee on a journey through man's relationship with nature told with song and spoken word. Welcoming a host of inspirational guests, this green twist on a classic cabaret asks how we can each make a difference for the planet. Playful, radical, informative, hopeful and a whole lot of fun!

Two-time Olivier Award winner Janie Dee returns to Jermyn Street Theatre following her critically acclaimed, award-nominated performance in Laughing Boy with an irresistible new show. Fresh from a run at the Edinburgh Fringe, the chance to catch the show in London this Autumn is not to be missed.

Eurydice

3 October - 9 November

By Sarah Ruhl

Directed by Stella Powell-Jones

Love is a big, funny word.

It's Eurydice's wedding day. Having made it down the aisle to Orpheus, she leaves her wedding party and trips and falls… all the way down into the Underworld. After a dip in the river of forgetfulness, she can't remember her own name, never mind Orpheus. Discovering a chorus of stones, a tyrant on a tricycle, and her father in a room made of string, will Eurydice find a way to break the rules of the Underworld? Will love triumph over death?

Following Orlando, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award nominee Sarah Ruhl and Artistic Director Stella Powell-Jones reunite. Refocusing the classic myth on its heroine and her surreal descent to the land of the dead, this fresh look on a timeless love story asks what happens when we die, and what happens when we live. 

Not Beckett

Thursday 17th October, 3.00pm

Written by Jennifer Barclay, Olwen Fouéré, FELISPEAKS, Hannah Khalil and Nicola McCartney.

Not Beckett is an international rolling world premiere of 5 new short plays, challenging and expanding the idea of what Irishness looks and sounds like.

These plays - in conversation with Samuel Beckett's work - will not be adaptations but will instead be loosely inspired by a seed from the Beckett canon.

Written by femme-identifying and non-binary playwrights of diversified Irish descent across the globe, our intention is to use the inspiration of these contemporary classic plays to create a new canon.

Napoleon: Un Petit Pantomime

21 November - 5 January

A Jermyn Street Theatre and Charles Court Opera co-production

It's time to Bonaparty! Napoleon storms Jermyn Street this Christmas…

Mareěchal your forces and round up les Rosbifs - it's time for some historic hilarity! Join the most dictatorial of petits hommes as he dons disguises among the bourgeoisie to war with Wellington. Will the grandiose general overcome his fear of cats to become Emperor? Will the dodgy Duke find a name for his new beef pie?

Jermyn Street Theatre reunite with Charles Court Opera following our award-winning Odyssey: A Heroic Pantomime to put the iconic into Napoleonic. Bring Les Enfants Terribles, give the Vielle Moustache a night out and join in with a legendary part of Christmas in London. This boutique panto promises to bring a smile to the faces of Les Miseěrables!

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