Theatre503 Unveils Anthony Simpson-Pike’s Inaugural Season As Artistic Director

Theatre503 has unveiled Artistic Director Anthony Simpson-Pike’s first season, spanning February 2026 to March 2027. The lineup includes Donbas by Olga Braga, love you long time (already) by Katie Đỗ, Chewing Gum Dreams by Michaela Coel, Boo! by Alistair Hall, and kat by Nazareth Hassan, alongside a week-long Palestinian new-writing festival.

The season expands Theatre503’s producing model and deepens its community partnerships across Wandsworth and beyond.

Supported by PW Productions, the new season introduces an evolved producing model that increases in-house productions while building collaborations with leading companies such as Good Chance, Theatre Royal Plymouth, and White Kite Collective. At the same time, the company will deepen its 503Studio community program, expanding engagement with schoolchildren, local communities, and new playwrights.

Opening in February 2026, Donbas by Olga Braga, winner of the 2025 Theatre503 International Playwriting Award, will mark Simpson-Pike’s first production as Artistic Director. Additional premieres will include love you long time (already) by Katie Đỗ, kat by Nazareth Hassan, and Boo! by Alistair Hall, co-produced with Theatre Royal Plymouth. Theatre503 will also host a week-long festival of new Palestinian writing presented by the White Kite Collective.

For the first time in its history, Theatre503 will launch a new strand celebrating debut plays through a revival of a landmark work that redefined contemporary theatre. Simpson-Pike will direct Michaela Coel’s Chewing Gum Dreams, originally developed at The Yard and the Bush Theatre before transferring to The National Theatre in 2014.

Simpson-Pike said, “I am so excited to be launching my tenure at Theatre503 with a season of work that encapsulates the importance and power of debut voices. These works explore some of the biggest subjects of our day—from Donbas to Palestine—while reaching into every facet of what it means to be human.”

Executive Director Emily Carewe added, “This season, and the pilot of our new producing model, is a bold and ambitious commitment to shining a light on the vitality of debut work. We are hugely grateful to PW Productions and all our partners for their belief in the future of new writing.”

The season opens with Donbas by Olga Braga (February 5–28, 2026), directed by Simpson-Pike and produced in partnership with Good Chance and 45North. The play follows a Ukrainian family as personal and political divisions collide amid the escalating war.

Season Details

From June 1–6, 2026, Theatre503 will host Tomorrow Will Be a Palestinian Day, a festival of new plays and extracts by Palestinian writers from across historic Palestine and the diaspora, presented by White Kite Collective and Bet’n Lev Theatre.

Katie Đỗ’s love you long time (already) (July 2–25, 2026) is an intergenerational epic about mothers, daughters, migration, and memory, exploring how family ties shape identity and freedom.

Michaela Coel’s Chewing Gum Dreams (September 10–October 3, 2026), directed by Simpson-Pike, marks the first revival in Theatre503’s new “Debut Classics” strand and follows Tracey Gordon’s coming-of-age journey through first love, last days of school, and the formative moments that define us.

Alistair Hall’s Boo! (January 14–February 6, 2027), co-produced with Theatre Royal Plymouth, offers a haunting and tender exploration of grief and connection as one man is visited by the ghost of his lost love.

The season concludes with Nazareth Hassan’s kat (March 4–27, 2027), a sharp and darkly funny look at transhumanism, faith, and identity, following a woman who finds freedom by transforming into her true self—whiskers and all.

The company’s ongoing outreach work continues to expand through several initiatives. The Wandsworth Way, a 40-episode community radio soap opera created in partnership with Riverside Radio and Wandsworth Council, airs Sundays at 5 p.m. through March 2026.