Tilda Swinton is set to revisit a role she first played at the Edinburgh festival in 1987, appearing as Ella/Max in Manfred Karge’s Man to Man, directed again by Stephen Unwin. The revised version runs at the Royal Court theatre, London from 5 September to 24 October, and moves to the Traverse theatre in Edinburgh from 29 October to 7 November.
On the West End front, James Graham’s new play The Standard of Living examines John Maynard Keynes and his cultural influence, with Rory Kinnear portraying Keynes and Natalia Osipova making a West End appearance. Nicholas Hytner directs the production at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from 21 September to 12 December.
Star casting continues across the capital. Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup will take on Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? under Marianne Elliott at @sohoplace from 21 September to 19 December. Keira Knightley and Stephen Dillane appear in Robert Icke’s stage adaptation of The Lives of Others at the Adelphi theatre, running 14 October to 9 January, joined by Luke Thompson in the company.
Classic repertory receives fresh treatment. An all-male As You Like It directed by Daniel Evans features Jonathan Groff as Rosalind and Fisayo Akinade as Celia at the Royal Shakespeare theatre from 26 September to 7 November. King Lear returns in multiple guises, with Ian McKellen in Simon Stephens’s reworked production at the Yard in east London opening in November, and David Threlfall leading a reimagined Lear at Manchester’s Royal Exchange from 2 October to 15 November.
The season also foregrounds new writing and regional work. Inua Ellams’s Once Upon a Time in Sokoto examines a fraught friendship in the period ahead of Nigeria’s formation, at Royal & Derngate, Northampton from 28 September to 10 October, touring until 13 February. Hannah McPake’s Balloon Girl tells the story of the Welsh parachutist Mademoiselle Albertina at the Sherman theatre in Cardiff from 9 to 24 October.
Comedy and unusual formats stretch beyond straight plays. Sam Campbell brings his touring set Kid Giblet, beginning at Bristol Beacon on 31 August and touring until 1 December. Kevin Bridges also returns to the road, consolidating his reputation as a leading live standup drawn from Glasgow’s comic tradition.
Theatre across Britain this autumn pairs headline talent with experimental remounts and new work, a mix that guarantees busy booking windows as productions run into December and, in some cases, through to January and beyond.
