APPLICATION 39 Will Embark on UK Tour in September

ETT has announced the full tour for Application 39; a sharply satirical, future-facing drama by Palestinian writer Ahmed Masoud. Opening at Bristol Old Vic with the press performance on 24th September 2026, the production tours to Northern Stage in Newcastle, New Wolsey in Ipswich, Factory International's Aviva Studios in Manchester and finally Stratford East in London.

Directed by Cressida Brown, Application 39 imagines 'a Gaza risen from ruin, unexpectedly awarded the right to host the 2048 Olympic Games, exactly 100 years after the Nakba'. It is bold, irreverent, and rooted in lived testimony as well as speculative hope. The full cast is due to be announced.

Ahmed Masoud, Writer of Application 39, commented: “My play is going on tour in the UK in September.

If I closed my eyes and imagined young me growing up in Jabalia Camp, North of Gaza, saying the above sentence, I am sure people around me would just burst in laughter. How could I even imagine the possibility of my play touring from one place to the other when I, my family and people couldn't.

But this is the power of theatre and stories, it connects all on a small stage. It builds worlds for all of us where you can imagine possibility. Now I can say my play has already been to the future and heading on UK tour.

I am pleased to see Application 39 going on a journey across multiple venues. I am humbled that so many of you will embark on a journey into the future to see what Gaza might look like and what possibilities we have ahead of us.

I am grateful for your presence, the producers, the creative team and everyone who has made this possible.”

Lisa Spirling, Artistic Director of Stratford East added: “We're delighted to be co-producing Application 39 with ETT and Matthew Schmolle Productions and to welcome this bold play by Ahmed Masoud to Stratford East. Supporting ambitious new writing and bringing vital contemporary stories to our audiences is central to our programme, and we're excited to share Application 39 with our communities as part of our season.”

Richard Twyman, Artistic Director and Sophie Scull Executive Director of English Touring Theatre commented: “Application 39 is exactly the kind of work we should be taking across the country: imaginative, funny and urgent, with the power to make us look at the present differently by imagining what might be possible in the future. Ahmed has written a remarkable play that brings together humour, humanity and a fierce sense of possibility, while never losing sight of the realities from which it emerges. We're delighted to be working with Ahmed, Cressida and our co-producers Stratford East and Matthew Schmolle, and to be taking the production to Bristol Old Vic, Northern Stage, New Wolsey and Factory International.”

Producer Matthew Schmolle added:  Following 2025's 'Cutting The Tightrope' at the Arcola and Edinburgh International Festival, I'm unbelievably excited to  work with Cressida and Ahmed again on Application 39, a piece of work for our national stages that could not be more urgent or timely.  Enormous thanks to TRSE, ETT, Arts Council England and our touring venues for being brave and making this possible.”

In Application 39, two young IT workers in the municipality of Gaza hack the bid process for the 2048 Olympics as a prank - and win. Their “victory” becomes a surreal yet pressing journey through occupation, bureaucracy, absurdity, and reconstruction. This stage version draws on real-life testimonies, including from Gaza itself, to pose a radical question: what if Gaza were no longer rubble and siege - but a site of global gathering, resistance and renewal?

The Set and Costume Designer is Charlotte Espiner, the LX Designer is Imogen Clarke, the Sound Design is by Ed Lewis and the Composer is Sami El-Anany.

Ahmed Masoud is a Palestinian and British writer, theatre maker, and academic. His plays include The Shroud Maker, Camouflage, Passports, Mo Salah, Jinn and Other Complicated Things; and his novels, Vanished: The Mysterious Disappearance of Mustafa Ouda and Come What May. Masoud is the founder of the Al Zaytouna Dance Company and PalArt Collective.

Cressida Brown directs. Her theatre credits include The Political History of Smack and Crack, England & Son (UK tour), Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Arts (Arcola Theatre), Amphibians (Bridewell Theatre), Twelfth Night (RSC and Guangzhou Dramatic Arts Centre), Icarus, Septimus Bean and His Amazing Machine (Unicorn Theatre), Food (Finborough Theatre), Screens, Speaking Freely, Hotel Du Vin, The Words are Coming Now (Theatre503). Brown also created a documentary film titled Ruby Francis' Nubian Songs, in association with the Bush Theatre.

Tour Dates

BRISTOL OLD VIC
23 - 26 September 2026

NORTHERN STAGE
30 September - 1 October 2026

NEW WOLSEY
6 - 7 October 2026

Factory International, MANCHESTER
9 - 10 October 2026

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