Simon Stephens News

The Writers' Room Festival will present a packed programme of rehearsed readings, workshops and talks with industry experts and leading playwrights. Learn more here!

The Shed will present extension of An Ark, starring Ian McKellen and more, as the first play created for and in mixed reality continues to engage audiences in new ways.

Lucy Kirkwood’s play The Children is fascinating and compelling. Her script prompts discussion about corporate responsibility, what accountability an organization’s employees should own, and how tragic circumstances force people to face personal transgressions and the fallout from their poor decisions.

Stage and screen legend Ian McKellen sat down with Stephen Colbert during a recent episode of The Late Show for an extended interview covering his long career as a performer. Check it out now.

As I have twice had occasion in real life to sit, essentially, knee to knee with Ian McKellen, my encounter with his digital doppelganger at The Shed was perhaps somewhat less singular than it was for most attendees of An Ark. I have encountered Sir Ian in three palpable dimensions and in those instances he was able to shake my hand and pass me a cup of tea, rather than simply smiling benevolently from across a shallow void.

Todd Eckert joins The Roundtable for a BroadwayWorld Exclusive conversation about An Ark at The Shed, the bold mixed-reality theatrical experience redefining what live performance can be. Watch in this video!

Rise and shine, BroadwayWorld! It is January 26, 2026 and it's time to catch up on all of the theatrical happenings you may have missed over the weekend.

An Ark, the first play created for and in mixed reality, makes its world premiere at The Shed. Written by Olivier and Tony Award winner Simon Stephens, directed by UK Theatre Award winner Sarah Frankcom, and produced by mixed reality pioneer Todd Eckert, An Ark is a genre-defying production, transforming universal human experiences into a profoundly intimate theatrical performance. Check out what the critics are saying...

Taking place on Saturday 7 March 2026 at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, the one-day event is a celebration of new writing, and an exploration of its future, with writers across the country. 

What's happening off-Broadway? BroadwayWorld is here to guide you through the top picks for theatre this month. Start the new year off right with shows featuring big stars, like An Ark with Ian McKellen and more.

Amidst the welter of Best of and Most lists for 2025, American Theatre magazine took on a wider time horizon in its survey of the most influential theatre titles of the last 25 years, or quarter-century if you prefer. Like any such list, the results are fascinating and immediately provide a foundation for debate, disagreement and discussion, but this was no list cobbled together from the opinions of the magazine’s staff, as is often the case with such efforts, but a genuine survey. 

Award-winning director Cameron Watson invites us to watch the story of two lost souls looking for human connection who bloom and blossom after randomly meeting in a world that seems to consistently separate them from others into perpetual loneliness.

All new photos have been released of Paul Eiding and Juls Hoover HEISENBERG, written by Simon Stephens and directed by Cameron Watson. Check out photos here!

2027 dates have been revealed for the newly announced production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, inspired by the novel and the National Theatre's stage adaptation.

Paul Eiding and Juls Hoover will star in Brave Space Productions' HEISENBERG, written by Simon Stephens. Through observing and sharing space and time, two people alter each other's trajectories and evolve away from the safety of stasis.

An Ark, the first play created for and in mixed reality, will make its world premiere next year at The Shed, starring Ian McKellen and more. Learn more about the production here!

Melting Pot and the Birmingham Rep will co-produce a brand-new staging of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, opening in Birmingham next September before embarking on a major UK tour

Heisenberg by Simon Stephens opens November 20 at Skylight Theatre in Los Feliz, directed by Cameron Watson and starring Paul Eiding and Juls Hoover.

Hampstead Theatre has announced the nine playwrights who will join its acclaimed INSPIRE programme for 2025/6 now led by Tony and Olivier Award-winning playwright Simon Stephens.

Manhattan Theater Club has named Nicki Hunter as its next artistic director. Learn more about Hunter and about the changes being made to the organization here!