CAROLINE, THE DISAPPEARING MAN, and More Set For Titilola Dawudu's Inaugural Season as Artistic Director Of Hightide
The season will kick off in April 2026.
Titilola Dawudu, Artistic Director and CEO of HighTide, has announced her inaugural season, marking a new chapter for the East of England-based theatre company. This season centres regional voices, from early-stage ideas through to full productions, with artists shaping work across development, touring and community contexts.
Titilola Dawudu said, “It’s remarkable that, as a small organisation, we’re working with such an array of writers with connections to the East of England. This season is about highlighting the incredible talent of writers across the four regions we work in, at every stage of their artistic journeys.
At the centre of that is HT Studios, our new approach to writer development work - bringing our programmes together and creating clearer pathways for writers to grow.
That thinking runs through everything we do, including our partnerships, from Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and Soho Theatre to our work with the East Anglian Touring Consortium, which is helping to bring Caroline: A New Musical to audiences across the region this April.
It also shapes new strands, like My Story, which focuses on stories from and with communities, beginning with a collaboration with The Seagull Theatre and will be premiering at First Light Festival this June.
Across all of it, my ambition is simple: to tell exciting, urgent stories in an uncertain climate - to back writers, take risks, and create work that feels alive to the world we’re living in.”
Caroline: A New Musical
In a major new collaboration between HighTide and its regional partners, the season will open with the first production from the East Anglian Touring Consortium (EATC): the world premiere production of Vikki Stone’s Caroline: A New Musical. The production, based on the true story of the pirate radio revolution, opens on 22 April, and runs through to 2 May at New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, before touring to Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch, New Theatre, Peterborough, Mercury Theatre, Colchester, before ending its run at Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds. The production is directed by New Wolsey Theatre’s Artistic Director Douglas Rintoul, with co-direction from Co-Creative Director of Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch Alex Thorpe, and dramaturgy by HighTide’s Titilola Dawudu.
The Disappearing Man
Later in the year, HighTide and Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch will present the world premiere of The Disappearing Man, renewing HighTide’s collaboration with writer Kenny Emson following his play RUST from HighTide’s 2018 Festival. The production will be directed by Alex Thorpe. The production will open at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch in October, before touring to Blackpool Grand Theatre and Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, and concluding at Key Theatre, Peterborough.
A to B
A to B by Tia-Renee Mullings, produced by JFR Productions in association with HighTide and Soho Theatre, opens at Soho Theatre in June, continuing HighTide’s work with partner venues to support bold new writing for national stages.
HT Studios
At the heart of the new season is HT Studios - a reimagined approach to writer development at HighTide. Bringing together existing programmes including the Jerwood HighTide Writers Group, Playwrights East, and HighTide Rising, it creates a clear pipeline for writers to develop work and help them build sustainable careers through paid opportunities, development support, and progression into production and wider industry networks across the East of England and beyond.
Story Worlds
Story Worlds, an established part of HighTide’s work, continues HighTide’s commitment to developing oracy and literacy with primary schools in Lowestoft, with plans to expand to Great Yarmouth.
The newly expanded Associate Artists residency will support Tassa Deparis, Nayantara Nayar, Sonny Nwachukwu and Rosa Torr with mentoring from Titilola Dawudu and support from the HighTide team to create a new piece of work by focusing on a particular idea, way of working, or artistic style.
The new My Story project places communities at the heart of HighTide’s work. Launching with My Story: Lowestoft at First Light Festival in June, the project brings together local participants to create a series of audio works capturing contemporary life in the town, celebrating the people and the place. This project, created in partnership with The Seagull Theatre, uses arts and culture as the backdrop for a new series of community-led audio works. The audio pieces will also be available online via QR codes located at East Point Pavilion and The Seagull Theatre throughout the summer.
Also announced, Kirsty Bushell, Cal-I Jonel, Jonathan Massey, Saher Shah, Jacob Sparrow, and Joanna Taylor will form the 2026 Jerwood HighTide Writers Group. Now in its third year (and its second year supported by a grant from Jerwood Foundation), the programme offers participants a paid, year-long course led by playwright Kelly Jones, culminating in the presentation of an extract from their new plays at HighTide Rising in early 2027.
Videos
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HED PE and COLD at The Dome - London The Dome (10/08-10/08) |
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Chinese Boxing OSO The Theatre on Barnes Pond (7/01-7/03) |
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The Muppet Christmas Carol: The Film with Live Orchestra Bridgewater Hall (12/07-12/17) |
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Burn the Floor: Supernova Edinburgh Festival Theatre (7/12-7/12) |
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Michael Spicer - Hope All''s Well Manchester Fairfield Social Club (11/19-11/19) |
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Burn the Floor: Supernova Aberdeen Music Hall (7/09-7/09) |
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Chelmsford Comedy Club Live – Mike Gunn, Kevin Daniel, Jack Hester and Special Guest The Lion Inn (8/27-8/27) |
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The Little Mermaid Greenwich Theatre (8/07-8/23) |
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G4 Christmas 2026 - Swansea Brangwyn Hall Brangwyn Hall (12/22-12/22) |
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The Go-Between Seckford Theatre (8/26-8/26) |
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