World Premieres of NEVER LET ME GO AND ROBIN HOOD & THE CHRISTMAS HEIST Come To The Rose Theatre

Rose Theatre has announced new ticket pricing and two world premieres as part of its upcoming autumn season.

Rose Theatre will offer £25 seats for at least 75% of seats for all 2024-2025 season dramas with further benefits for members in its Friends, Family, and 30 & Under schemes.

A new adaptation of Nobel Prize winning author Kazuo Ishiguro's best-selling novel Never Let Me Go, adapted by Suzanne Heathcote (Killing Eve) and directed by Christopher Haydon, will open the season in September.

Robin Hood & the Christmas Heist, written by Olivier Award winner Chris Bush and directed by UK Theatre Award winner Elin Schofield, opens in November

£25 Seats for 2024-2025 Dramas

Rose Theatre aims to make theatre accessible to wider and more diverse audiences and has committed to offering a majority of seats for Rose Original drama productions at £25 during its upcoming 2024-2025 season.

“After a challenging few years, UK theatre has come back fighting. Creatively and financially, positive news has started to emerge. The recent Indigo-Spektrix report on audience retention reveals that new bookers who have started coming to the theatre since the pandemic are demonstrating enthusiasm to keep coming back. While there is still much to do, this gives us real optimism for the future.” said Robert O'Dowd, Chief Executive. “With our new £25 ticket price and membership schemes, we aim to make great experiences at the theatre accessible to as many people as possible."

The Rose also offers membership schemes for individuals, families, and people aged 30 & Under. A key benefit of the individual Friends members scheme is that bookers receive £10 discounts on all seats. With the new pricing scheme, members could pay as little as £15 for a prime seat in the stalls. Similarly, 30 & Under members pay only £5 for great seats.

Members receive a raft of additional benefits including: discounts at the Rose Café Bar , exclusive events, preferred pricing and special offers with local restaurant and retail partners. For more information, visit the Rose memberships page here.

NEVER LET ME GO: The beloved novel brought to life

Kazuo Ishiguro says, “I'm filled with excitement by news of the upcoming production of Never Let Me Go. Suzanne Heathcote is a superb writer for both stage and screen. Christopher Haydon directed a beautiful adaptation of my The Remains of the Day not long ago. And the arrival of this new version of Never Let Me Go feels particularly well-timed. Its central question - How do we find and hold onto love in a world ruled by out-of-control science and savage hierarchical structures? - feels even more haunting today than when I wrote the novel twenty years ago. I look forward to discovering how this wonderfully talented team will re-imagine the story for the stage and for our time.”

“Never Let Me Go has been among my favourite novels since I first read it two decades ago. It is an achingly beautiful story of how we maintain hope, and continue to love in the face of a hostile world. It's become one of the world's best loved novels and has all of the elements of a great piece of theatre,” says Christopher Haydon, Artistic Director, who will direct the production. “I'm thrilled to be working with Suzanne to bring this incredible story to life on our stage at the Rose.”

The creative team also includes Set and Costume Design by Tom Piper, and Casting by Sam Jones CDG. The full creative team and casting will be announced at a later date.

Never Let Me Go is being co-produced with Bristol Old Vic, Malvern Theatres, and Royal & Derngate, Northampton, where the production will play following its premiere at the Rose; tickets are now on sale at all co-producing theatres. The production will also be part of Chichester Festival's upcoming Winter Season, with tickets going on sale there in September.

ROBIN HOOD & THE CHRISTMAS HEIST: Our Festive Tradition Continues

Continuing the tradition of staging magical productions to delight family audiences during the festive season, Robin Hood & the Christmas Heist will see the Rose stage transformed into Sherwood Forest.

"Christmas, as we all know, is a time for giving. Sadly this message hasn't yet filtered through to the Sheriff of Nottingham, which means it's time for Robin and his merry band of outlaws to take matters into their own hands,” says writer Chris Bush. “Robin Hood is such an iconic piece of English folklore, partially because it gives us the chance to question who is truly naughty and who is nice - not just because they follow the rules, but because they embody the true spirit of the season, that of kindness, generosity and community. I can't wait for audiences in Kingston to join us for some midwinter mischief this Christmas."

Priority and Public Booking Opens

As part of its season announcement, the Rose is offering new members the opportunity to register for the Friends scheme and book tickets for two 2024-2025 dramas for a total £90 — a savings of £20 if booked separately. New Family members who register for £80 may take immediate advantage of discounted pricing benefits with that scheme when booking our annual festive show, Robin Hood & the Christmas Heist. Finally, 30 & Under members are also invited to register for free to ensure the best £5 seats possible as a benefit of that scheme.

Priority booking for existing and new members opens today.. Public booking opens Saturday, 23 March at noon.

Although it is a charity and receives no regular funding from Arts Council England, Rose Theatre operates with support of  two key funders: The Royal Borough of Kingston and Kingston University.

NEVER LET ME GO

20 September - 12 October 2024

Press Night: 25 September, 7:30 pm

A Rose Original Production with Bristol Old Vic, Malvern Theatres, and Royal & Derngate, Northampton 

You were brought into this world for a purpose.

And your futures — all of them — have been decided.

A play by Suzanne Heathcote

Based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro

Directed by Christopher Haydon

Kazuo Ishiguro's international best-selling novel arrives on stage in this world premiere of Suzanne Heathcote's gripping new adaptation.

What if you discovered your whole reason for being was not about your life but about making someone else's possible?  Your dreams, your desires, your love for another, all of them irrelevant in a world that values only what you give, without question or condition, to someone you've never met and will never know.

Memory and reality collide in this stunning new staging that challenges us to think about what it means to be human. What it means to have hope and heart — to love and to lose.

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