Birdcatcher, Let the Whale Die and The Gentleman of Wimbledon are coming to Park Theatre's studio space, Park90, between March and July 2027. One is a London premiere and two are world premieres.
Park Theatre has announced three new plays for Park90 in 2027. They run from March to July. General sale opens at 11am on Thursday 12 November 2026, and priority booking for Birdcatcher opened this morning.
Birdcatcher
Birdcatcher plays from 2-27 March 2027, with press night on 4 March. It is the London premiere of Laura Waldren's play, which toured rural venues in autumn 2026. Waldren is a Papatango Prize winner. Her previous play was Some Demon.
The play is set inside an apocalyptic religious group that controls every part of its members' lives. A young person in the group tries to find a voice of her own while everyone around her waits for the end of the world. Lucy Mangan plays Eliza. Elle While, the BAFTA-winning artistic director of Pentabus, directs.
Pentabus produces, in association with Papatango Theatre Company, Middle Child Theatre and Park Theatre. Design is by Amy Jane Cook, lighting by Jessie Addinall, sound by Helen Skiera and movement by Asha Jennings-Grant. Casting is by Emma Sylvesta. The play runs for 90 minutes with no interval and is recommended for ages 12 and over. Every performance is audio described.
Let the Whale Die
Let the Whale Die is a world premiere by Meg Schadler. It runs from 4-15 May 2027, with press night on 6 May. Angharad Jones, artistic director and chief executive of New Perspectives, directs.
The central character, Girl, has one job: keeping an aquarium's star orca alive. The orca dies. Her mother, her husband, her boss and the public all want an explanation, and she will not give one. What looks like a collapse to everyone else may be a fresh start for her. The production's own line is "You killed a whale. The whale killed itself."
New Perspectives and Royal & Derngate, Northampton present it in association with Park Theatre. It is the next New Perspectives production after (the) Woman. It runs for 60 minutes with no interval and is for ages 15 and over.
The Gentleman of Wimbledon
The Gentleman of Wimbledon is a world premiere by the New York-based playwright Oliver Lehne, inspired by a true story. It runs 16 June - 10 July 2027, with press night at 7.15pm on 21 June. Lehne's work often returns to lost or forgotten figures, particularly queer ones, and his play What We Are was nominated for Best Play at the New York Theater Festival.
Matthew Iliffe directs. His recent credits include Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky at Southwark Playhouse, Slippery at Omnibus Theatre and Bacon at the Finborough Theatre, which won him an Offie for Best Director. He has worked at Park Theatre before, on the musical The Burnt Part Boys.
The play is set in Berlin in the 1930s. Its subject is Baron Gottfried von Cramm, an aristocrat and international tennis star who lived a queer life away from the court in Weimar Berlin. As Germany turns to fascism, his fame protects him less and less, and he has to decide what he will give up for the people he loves and for his principles.
Anthony Kosky Management produces in association with Park Theatre, and the play will be staged in the round. It runs for 80 minutes with no interval and is for ages 14 and over. Producer Anthony Kosky, who last worked at Park Theatre nine years ago, called it "a fantastic story of love, for the game of tennis and for humanity". Previews cost £15, with tickets from £18 to £29.50 after that.
Park Theatre's artistic director Jez Bond said: "Park90 has always been a space for bold ideas, new voices and stories that challenge expectations. These three plays are very different in subject and style, but each explores individuals confronting the world around them and finding the courage to make their own choices."
Tickets for Birdcatcher and Let the Whale Die cost £15-£18 at Park Theatre in Finsbury Park.
For more information, visit the official pages for Birdcatcher, Let the Whale Die and The Gentleman of Wimbledon.
