Battersea Arts Centre announces its 2026 Autumn-Winter season
by Best of Theatre Staff on Wednesday 22 July 2026, 11:56 am in Upcoming and New Shows
Battersea Arts Centre has announced its Autumn/Winter 2026 season, featuring two world premieres, an experiential horror, a festival of magic, and Halloween and Christmas takeovers of its landmark building. The season runs from 6 October to 24 December 2026.
Battersea Arts Centre has announced its Autumn/Winter 2026 season, a programme of genre-defying performance running from 6 October to 24 December 2026. The south London venue's new season features two world premieres, two UK premieres, a festival of magic, and building-wide takeovers for Halloween and Christmas.
The season opens with NINA, a BAC production and the debut play written by celebrated director Caroline Williams, co-directed with award-winning artist Deborah Pearson. Inspired by Chekhov's The Seagull, the piece questions why so many women are drawn to play an actress who has everything taken away from her by men, and why the men in Chekhov's original keep trying to turn the girls they fancy into dead seagulls. Williams drew on watching hundreds of women read Nina's monologue on YouTube in a post-#MeToo era. It runs 6 to 24 October.
The second world premiere is Room 13, an experiential horror from Immersive Octopus and Battersea Arts Centre, directed by Tom Maller, whose credits include Peaky Blinders: The Rise, Doctor Who: Time Fracture, The Paddington Bear Experience and Secret Cinema productions of Casino Royale, Blade Runner and Romeo + Juliet. Combining live performers, special effects and immersive design, the show imagines that the restoration following the 2015 fire uncovered a sealed chamber in the building's original stone structure, and that what the builders found was disturbing enough to halt the works. It runs 16 to 31 October.
Halloween brings two more titles. The Dark, from early years specialists Peut-Être Theatre, is adapted from the book by Lemony Snicket and follows Laszlo on his journey to meet and befriend the dark. Aimed at ages 4+, it merges vibrant physicality with live music and is accessible to blind and visually impaired children through integrated audio description and touch tours (27 to 31 October). Gothic Opera then return to the Grand Hall with the UK premiere of La Dame de Pique (The Queen of Spades), a witty, gritty opera by Fromental Halévy that premiered in Paris in 1850 and has never been staged since (29 October to 1 November).
November's experimental strand includes the UK premiere of Good Sex from acclaimed Dublin-based theatremakers Dead Centre and award-winning novelist and essayist Emilie Pine, following hit runs in Ireland and New York. Each night, two brand-new performers who have never rehearsed together or read the script tell a story of desire, betrayal and loneliness, joined on stage by an intimacy director (4 to 6 November). Action Hero return with A Song and Dance, an absurdist nightmare about masking, performing and acting the part, in which a reluctant actor battling stage fright rewrites his anxiety dreams live on stage (17 to 21 November).
Running 7 to 14 November, UNREAL: A Festival of Magic and Performance gathers artists from across the UK and Europe working at the intersection of magic and performance. Curated by Tom Cassani, Augusto Corrieri and Tim Bromage, the five days of programming include UK premieres of A Mouthful of Tongues by Stina Fors, Magic: An Illustrated History by Jim Dahl, Lento e Violento by Valentina Cortese and Escaping Oneself by Chloé Vivarès, alongside the double bill Black Magic and Iterations by Luis Sartori do Vale, Kalle Nio and Cassani, This Is Not a Magic Show by Vincent Gambini, works in progress from Shambles Ensemble and Hsiang-Sheng Teng, and an artist talk with Marisa Carnesky and Jo Bannon.
The Christmas takeover is led by Dear Santa, a live stage show by Rod Campbell, author of the well-loved children's book Dear Zoo, produced by Norwell Lapley Productions and pitched as an ideal introduction to theatre for ages two and over (28 November to 24 December). Families can also visit Santa's Grotto, where children can share their Christmas wishes and receive a gift (4 to 24 December), or head to Festive Soft Play, a seasonal play space designed for ages 0-5 (1 to 24 December).
Pelin Başaran, Creative Director of Battersea Arts Centre, said: "This season invites audiences to look at the world from new perspectives. Through extraordinary artists from across the UK and around the world, we explore the stories we hear, the narratives we challenge, and the realities we choose to create together. Whether questioning power, belief, or memory, these works remind us that we are not watching the story unfold, we are part of it."
Tarek Iskander, Artistic Director and CEO of Battersea Arts Centre, said: "At Battersea Arts Centre, we're committed to championing artists who push the boundaries of live performance and creating experiences audiences won't find anywhere else. This season reflects that ambition, bringing together an extraordinary breadth of work, from world premieres and immersive experiences to festivals and family takeovers. It celebrates bold artists and ideas from across disciplines and borders, while continuing to reimagine how audiences experience live theatre."
Most shows at Battersea Arts Centre are available on a Pay What You Can basis. The Halloween and Christmas takeovers follow the success of The Art of Mini Golf, the playable exhibition designed by leading women artists, which recently announced a two-week extension until 9 August. Battersea Arts Centre will also take on the leadership of the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), with the first festival due in 2027.