Shakespeare's Globe Reveals Summer Season 2026
Across the summer more than 180,000 tickets will be available at £10 or less, with hundreds of tickets at £5 for every performance.
By: Stephi Wild Jan. 26, 2026
This summer, join Shakespeare's Globe for a season bursting with world-class artists, lesser-known classics, and much-loved plays, in two of the most iconic theatres in the world. Across the summer more than 180,000 tickets will be available at £10 or less, with hundreds of tickets at £5 for every performance.
Michelle Terry, Artistic Director, says: “All the plays this season were born out of a world in chaos whether that was the chaos of Shakespeare’s 1599 or Brecht’s 1939. The questions these plays ask are an attempt to make sense of that world: what is love? What is evil? What is power? What is tyranny? What is this life?
Neither Shakespeare nor Brecht give us an answer, but they do demand we ask the questions, and as importantly, ask them in a Theatre, where at the very least we are asking them together.
Our beautiful wooden 'O' stands proudly on the banks of the Thames, connecting 1,600 people at every performance. This human connection is profound: profoundly exciting, profoundly real, and in a world of increasing division, profoundly necessary.
If you’ve been before, come again! If you’ve never been, try it! Come and experience for yourself the visceral impact of being together, in these magical spaces with these powerful plays, the huge questions they ask, and the hope, courage and comfort that comes from trying to answer them together.
And all of that for a fiver.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs from 23 April May to 29 August, directed by Emily Lim (The Odyssey, National Theatre). Under starry, summer skies The Globe Theatre becomes a gathering place where hearts unravel, chaos reigns and spells go awry. Emily was Director of Public Acts at The National Theatre from 2018–2025. Her previous credits include Brighter Still (closing ceremony for UK City of Culture, 2025), Public Record (National Theatre/The Fire Station/Public Acts, 2025), The Enormous Crocodile (Roald Dahl Story Company/Leeds Playhouse/Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre/USA Tour, 2023–2024), The Odyssey (National Theatre/Public Acts, 2023), Yoko Ono’s Bells for Peace (Manchester International Festival, 2019), and Pericles (National Theatre/Public Acts, 2018). The set for A Midsummer Night’s Dream is designed by Aldo Vazquez (The Beautiful Future is Coming, Bristol Old Vic), and costumes by Fly Davis (Paranormal Activity, Ambassadors Theatre).
Mother Courage and Her Children
Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht and translated by Anna Jordan runs from 7 May until 27 June, directed by Globe Associate Artist Elle While (Richard III, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Globe) featuring Globe Artistic Director Michelle Terry as Mother Courage, and with music by James Maloney. Staged at the Globe for the first time, Brecht’s revolutionary anti-war masterpiece unfolds across a wasteland stripped bare by greed and conflict, as Mother Courage drags her cart through the wreckage – a mother, fighter and survivor. Elle is the Artistic Director of Pentabus Theatre, as well as a Globe Associate Artist of Shakespeare’s Globe. Her directing credits include Driftwood, Make Good, One Of Them Ones and Idyll (Pentabus), Pinocchio (Watermill Theatre), As You Like It - BAFTA Winner and International Kidscreen Nominee (BBC/CBeebies), Private Peaceful (Nottingham Playhouse & UK Tour), The Silence and The Noise – OFFIE Winner, Destiny (Pentabus/Rural Media), Richard III, A Midsummer Night’s Dream- Ian Charleson Award Winner, The Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It and Hamlet (Globe), Blue Stockings (Chester Storyhouse), Glory Dazed – Holden Street Theatre Award and Critics’ Choice Award Winner (Soho Theatre, Adelaide Festival, Underbelly Edinburgh), and Country Music (West Yorkshire Playhouse). Mother Courage and Her Children is designed by takis (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Globe).
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing runs from 11 June to 24 October, directed by Chelsea Walker (All’s Well That Ends Well, 2024). Set in a sun-soaked world of style, status and sharp tongues, old wounds surface, and reputations hang by a thread beneath Messina’s polished exterior. Chelsea is an award-winning theatre director and the winner of the RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award. Her previous work includes A Streetcar Named Desire (UK Tour), All’s Well That Ends Well (Shakespeare’s Globe), Visit from an Unknown Woman, This Much I Know, The Contingency Plan, Missing Julie, Hedda Gabler, Cougar, Low Level Panic, and her short film Latch. Much Ado About Nothing is designed by Sami Fendall (Brigadoon, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre).
Love’s Labour’s Lost
Love’s Labour’s Lost runs from 17 July to 13 September, directed by Globe Associate Artist Indiana Lown-Collins (Globe Resident Associate Director, 2023). Shakespeare’s rarely staged comedy of love, desire and wit is reimagined in a blazing, flamenco-inspired production, as four women arrive in Navarre on a diplomatic mission and set the court alight with passion, power and poetry. Indiana is the winner of the 2022 JMK Directors Award for The Solid Life of Sugar Water (Orange Tree Theatre), which won the OFFIE for Best Production and earned her a nomination for Best Debut Director at The Stage Debut Awards. She is an Associate Artist at Shakespeare’s Globe and the Orange Tree Theatre, with recent work including Pinocchio (Watermill Theatre, 2024). Love’s Labour’s Lost is designed by Katie Lias (Burnt at the Stake, Shakespeare’s Globe).
As You Like It
As You Like It runs from 14 August to 25 October, directed by Associate Artistic Director Sean Holmes (Romeo and Juliet, 2025) and Globe Associate Artist Charlie Josephine (Pinocchio, 2025). Charlie will play Orlando, alongside Lola Shalam (Romeo and Juliet, 2025) as Rosalind. The Globe Theatre transforms into the wild and magical Forest of Arden, where Rosalind, Celia, and their friends flee the Duke’s cold court and enter a place alive with joy, music, and unexpected possibilities. Sean’s previous work for the Globe includes Pinocchio (2025, book and lyrics by Charlie Josephine), Romeo and Juliet (2025), Much Ado About Nothing (2024), The Comedy of Errors (2023 & 2024), The Winter’s Tale (2023), The Tempest (2022), Twelfth Night (2021), Hamlet (2021) Metamorphoses (2021), Henry VI (2020), Richard III (2020), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2019). Before the Globe, Sean was the Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith. Sean and Charlie’s previous collaborations include Cowbois (RSC / Royal Court), written by Charlie, which they co-directed. Charlie’s previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes Pinocchio (2025), I, Joan (2022), and Metamorphoses (2021). Their writing and performing credits include Blush (Underbelly Untapped Edinburgh Season 2016 and The Stage Edinburgh Award 2016) and Bitch Boxer (Soho Theatre Young Writers Award 2012, Old Vic New Voices Edinburgh Season 2012, British Council Showcase 2013, Holden Street Theatre’s Award 2013, Clonmel Theatre Award 2014 and Adelaide Fringe Award 2014). As You Like It is designed by Paul Wills (Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s Globe).
A World Elsewhere
A World Elsewhere runs from 25 July to 30 August in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, directed by Globe Director of Education Lucy Cuthbertson, co-produced by Shakespeare’s Globe and Splendid Productions. This epic family show follows Cass, a boy whose imagination has taken him and his imaginary friends on magical adventures inspired by his Grandma’s love of Shakespeare. But when his stories begin to lose their spark Cass faces new challenges to restore the magic of his imagination. The Olivier-nominated team behind Rough Magic and Midsummer Mechanicals return with a celebration of the magical world of storytelling, bursting with music and friendship, written by Kerry Frampton and Ben Hales. A World Elsewhere is designed by Rose Revitt (Midsummer Mechanicals, Rough Magic, Shakespeare’s Globe).
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