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Classics return, Scottish playwrights take centre stage, and partnerships stretch across the country, all underpinned by a belief that theatre is at its most potent when it’s shared. Artistic Director James Brining frames 2026/27 as a year of scale, ambition and emotional heft – stories that swing from the darkest corners of human experience to the kind of joy that many of us need right now. It’s a season which paints a clear image of a tenure which recognises the necessity of familiarity; but with a new face. Where new writing takes a back seat, fresh takes and interpretations on existing texts is pushed to the forefront.

Co‑productions Are Here to Stay

The season opens with a homegrown titan: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, adapted by David Harrower and directed by Vicky Featherstone, with Gayle Rankin stepping into the role of Edinburgh’s most dangerously charismatic teacher. Rather than treating Brodie as a nostalgic icon, this production leans into the contradictions — the seduction, the manipulation, the moral murk — sharpening Spark’s novel into something unsettlingly contemporary in this National Theatre of Scotland production.

From there, the mood darkens as Chris Hannan tackles 1984 in a major co‑production with Citizens Theatre and Dundee Rep. Orwell’s totalitarian nightmare feels uncomfortably close to home in a world already drowning in “alternative facts,” and Hannan’s adaptation pushes Winston and Julia’s rebellion into urgent, human territory. It’s the kind of show that leaves you checking your phone for Thought Police.

Winter brings a shift in tone with A Christmas Carol, directed by Brining himself. Dickens’ ghost story returns with Edinburgh’s own Victorian chill, promising a festive production that aims to become a new seasonal tradition rather than a museum piece. And as the new year arrives, Chelsea Walker takes on Romeo and Juliet, steering Shakespeare’s lovers into a world where young people grow up too fast and decisions are made in the blink of an eye. Expect a production that’s visceral, contemporary and emotionally raw.

Spring, now firmly the Lyceum’s musical playground, sees Guys & Dolls swagger onto the stage in a major Scottish collaboration involding *deep breath* Aberdeen Performing Arts, Eden Court Inverness, Citizens Theatre and Dundee Rep Theatre. Brining directs a new production that promises heart, humour and a generous dose of swing as gamblers, showgirls and dreamers chase luck from New York to Havana. It’s a big, bold musical built to fill the room.

The season closes with a statement piece: Mother Courage and her Children, adapted and directed by Zinnie Harris, who returns to the venue following their departure as assistant director. Brecht’s anti‑war masterpiece lands with unnerving relevance, and Harris leans into its contradictions — the humour, the horror, the unsentimental clarity — to create a production that feels both contemporary and deeply human. It’s a finale that refuses to look away from the world we’re living in.

Visiting Productions:

The Lyceum’s visiting programme is rich this year, stretching from children’s favourites to modern classics and international award‑winners. Zog swoops in first, bringing Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s accident‑prone dragon to musical life, followed later by Zog and the Flying Doctors, which doubles down on the chaos with unicorns, mermaids and a princess who refuses to stay in her lane.

For grown‑ups, the season offers a rare chance to see The Tailor of Inverness, Matthew Zajac’s acclaimed solo piece about displacement, survival and the legacy of war — a production that has travelled the world and gathered awards like confetti. Private Peaceful follows, with a single actor conjuring Michael Morpurgo’s world of brotherhood, innocence and the brutal cost of conflict.

The autumn brings two heavyweights: Tristan & Yseult, Emma Rice’s legendary Kneehigh production, returns like a mythic comet — playful, heartbreaking and wildly influential — while The Haunting of Hill House creeps onto the stage in a new adaptation by Scottish playwright Stef Smith, blurring the line between psychological terror and the supernatural. Shadows whisper, walls remember, and audiences will likely leave questioning what they’ve just seen.

And for families, The Gruffalo returns as part of its 25th anniversary celebrations — a reminder that sometimes the most enduring stories are the ones told with the simplest ingredients: songs, silliness and a mouse with more nerve than sense.

Looking to New Audiences, While Preserving the Old Guard

There’s no question that some of the Lyceum’s most successful, and lucrative, events of the past year have been short runs and single night events. An Evening With… David Tennant or Sam Heughan, or limited runs of Prima Facie (the venues fastest selling-show), and a host of comedians taking to the stage brought in audiences who were unfamiliar with the Lyceum’s offerings. And it seems that, financially, it’s a model the venue looks to continue, with more one-night events in the works.

Comedy continues to carve out its own corner of the Lyceum’s programme, with a trio of distinctive voices dropping in across the year. Sindhu Vee brings her sharp, warm, gloriously frank stand‑up to the stage, while Neil Delamere returns with a show that pokes at reinvention, self‑improvement and the eternal question of whether anything actually needs fixing. Later in the year, Christopher Macarthur‑Boyd arrives with a nocturnal, delightfully chaotic hour that cemented him as one of the hottest tickets of Fringe 2025. More names are promised as the season unfolds, but it’s clear to see that the Theatre, which looks to be ‘out of the woods’ following a productive year (in no small part due to One Day)

The Lyceum’s 2026/27 season is a celebration of scale — big emotions, big collaborations, big stories — but it’s also grounded in the intimate, the human and the fiercely local. From Brecht to Broadway, from dragons to doomed lovers, the programme is built on the belief that theatre is a shared act of courage and curiosity. Whether you’re here for the classics, the chaos, the comedy or the kids, the Lyceum is ready to welcome you in.

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