Paterson Joseph and Tameka Empson open Stratford East's 2027 season in Noises Off from 5 February. The year also brings the first revival of Talking in Tongues, a new Uncle Vanya, a world premiere and a Jack and the Beanstalk panto.
Stratford East has laid out its 2027 programme, the second season picked by artistic director and co-CEO Lisa Spirling. It opens in February with Frayn, takes in the first revival of a 1991 play, a Chekhov co-production and a world premiere, and ends with a panto in December.
Members and customers with access requirements can book from 12pm on 3 November. Public booking follows at 12pm on Wednesday 4 November. More than 2,000 seats across the season are priced at £10, and more than 2,000 others are sold as Pay What You Can, starting at £6.
"Our 2027 season is packed with classic comedies, a major revival and a groundbreaking world premiere. Together they explore beautifully how the past shapes who we are now."
That is how Spirling, executive director and co-CEO Hanna Streeter and associate artistic director Jade Lewis sum up the year.
Noises Off
Paterson Joseph and Tameka Empson head a new staging of Michael Frayn's backstage farce Noises Off, directed by Spirling. It runs from 5 February to 13 March 2027, with press night on 15 February. Joseph plays the director Lloyd Dallas and Empson plays Dotty Otley. The production lands 45 years after the comedy was first staged. More casting is still to come.
Empson, currently Kimberly Fox in EastEnders, is back at the theatre where she wrote for and starred in The Big Life, a role that brought an Olivier nomination. Joseph's screen credits include Peep Show, Vigil and Wonka. Casting is by Jatinder Chera, who is also the theatre's casting associate for 2027/28, and the run is supported by PW Productions.
Talking in Tongues
Winsome Pinnock's comedy-drama Talking in Tongues has not been seen since its Royal Court premiere in 1991. Lewis, who won an Olivier for Sleepova at the Bush Theatre, directs the revival from 1 April to 1 May 2027, with press night on 7 April. Tamara Lawrance plays Claudette and Kayla Meikle plays Leela, in a story of friends and lovers that moves between London and Jamaica. Further names will follow.
Uncle Vanya
The co-production with Bristol Old Vic, first announced in October, runs at Stratford East from 19 May to 19 June 2027, with press night on 21 May. Rikki Henry, associate artistic director at Bristol Old Vic, directs David Lan's English version of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, set in a run-down, vaguely modern office of filing cabinets and a dripping water cooler. Henry first tried the concept at Theater Dortmund in 2023; this is an entirely new production.
The Fingerprint Bureau
The season's world premiere is Sonali Bhattacharyya's The Fingerprint Bureau, commissioned and co-produced by Kali Theatre. Milli Bhatia, a two-time Olivier nominee, directs, reuniting the writer and director of King Troll (The Fawn). The play is set in Calcutta under British rule, where Bengali mathematicians Azizul Haque and Chandra Bose develop a way of identifying people by their fingerprints, and see their work taken up as a tool of colonial surveillance. Dates are still to be announced.
Jack and the Beanstalk
Vikki Stone and Tonderai Munyevu, who made the 2025 panto Mama Goose together, return to write and direct Jack and the Beanstalk. It runs from 20 November to 31 December 2027, with press night on 26 November.
Also in 2027
For Holocaust Memorial Day, a recording of Stratford East and Tectonic Theater Project's Here There Are Blueberries, by Amanda Gronich and Moisés Kaufman, will be available free to participating schools across the UK from 25-29 January 2027, with teacher training and classroom resources. The theatre's South Asian Season also returns in May.
Tickets for the 2027 season are available at Theatre Royal Stratford East, on public sale from 12pm on Wednesday 4 November: Noises Off from 5 February to 13 March 2027, Talking in Tongues from 1 April to 1 May 2027, Uncle Vanya from 19 May to 19 June 2027, The Fingerprint Bureau, dates to be announced, and Jack and the Beanstalk from 20 November to 31 December 2027.
