AFFLUENZA, SACRILEGIOUS, and EXPECTING Set For Riverside Studios' Mainstage Season 2026-27
The season will kick off in September 2026.
Riverside Studios' Mainstage Season 26/27, a major season of five new plays directed by Andy Sandberg, will be performed at Riverside Studios from this September, launching with three world premieres. Affluenza, written and directed by Andy Sandberg, runs from 26 September to 21 November 2026 (press night 5 October), with tickets on sale today. Sacrilegious, by Tom Schulman, the Oscar-winning writer of the films Dead Poets Society and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, runs from 5 December 2026 to 23 January 2026 (press night 15 December). Expecting, by Scott Elmegreen & Drew Fornarola, runs from 30 January to 27 March 2027 (press night 9 February). Further productions and casting will be announced soon.
The Mainstage Season 26/27 at Riverside Studios will feature five original plays, each running for limited eight-week engagements between September 2026 and July of 2027. Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director of the Hermitage Artist Retreat in the U.S., serves as Season Artistic Director for the Mainstage and will be directing each production. It is expected that each play in the season will be a world premiere or a UK premiere; the final two plays in the season will be announced in the coming months. The plays are largely set in America while exploring globally relevant themes. A mix of comedies and dramas, the plays in the season are all intended to keep the conversation going long after the curtain falls.
The Mainstage at Riverside Studios is a 400-seat theatre in West London. In recent years, it has been home to Ulster American (starring Woody Harrelson & Andy Serkis), Second Best (starring Asa Butterfield), and Operation Mincemeat, among others.
Mainstage Season Artistic Director Andy Sandberg said today, 'New writing has always been my passion, and there is nothing more exciting than discovering and nurturing a brilliant original play. Our hope is that each of these stories will resonate with audiences and become part of the theatrical canon for years to come. These are all timely and thought-provoking scripts designed to entertain while also inviting audiences to engage more deeply. I absolutely love working in the UK, and I am honoured to be working alongside a brilliant team of UK colleagues to bring this season to life. The experiences I have had directing in London have been some of the most gratifying of my career, and I can't wait to launch these new productions at Riverside Studios.'
The Mainstage Season at Riverside Studios is presented by ABS Productions, Whitney Edwards, Flora Major, Judith Manocherian, Sondra Biller, and Berman-Cohen Productions. DEM Productions serves as General Manager.
Affluenza
World Premiere
Written and Directed by Andy Sandberg
26 September - 21 November 2026
Monday - Saturday at 7.30 pm
Thursday and Saturday matinees at 2.30 pm
(No performance 1 October. Extra performance 4 October at 7.30 pm)
Captioned performance: 7 November at 2.30 pm
Press Night: Monday 5 October at 7 pm
Privilege is inherited. So are the consequences. When a teen’s drunken car ride ends in devastation, the verdict comes down to one question – is it possible to be too affluent to know the difference between right and wrong? Inspired by true events surrounding a shocking legal defence, Affluenza explores the ripple effects of power and privilege.
Set against the ultra-wealthy social haven of the Hamptons, Affluenza raises thought-provoking questions about moral accountability, family legacy, and the American justice system. Do any of us truly understand the cost and generational impact of privilege and opulence?
The world premiere of Affluenza is the first of five plays launching the Mainstage 26/27 season at Riverside Studios, each for a limited eight-week run. This biting and darkly funny new play is written and directed by Andy Sandberg.
Andy Sandberg (Director / Mainstage Season Artistic Director) is a New York-based director, writer, and Tony Award-winning producer. He is currently Artistic Director and CEO of the Hermitage Artist Retreat, a leading national arts incubator in the United States. Sandberg’s theatrical work has been represented in New York, London, and throughout the U.S. He directed the UK premieres of Alan Brody’s Operation Epsilon and Jeannette Bayardelle’s Shida, earning multiple Off-West End Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Musical. Additional world premieres as director in New York include Straight (NY Times Critics’ Pick); Application Pending (also co-author; BroadwayWorld Award: Best Off-Broadway Play, Drama Desk nomination: Outstanding Solo Show, winner of the Book Pipeline Prize); Shida (Ars Nova and A.R.T., four AUDELCO nominations including Best Director and Best Musical); Craving for Travel (also co-author); and the Off-Broadway musicals The Last Smoker in America and Neurosis. He has directed dozens of workshops and readings of new plays and musicals, including works by Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award, Olivier Award, and Academy Award winners and nominees. He also wrote the feature-length screenplays for Hallmark films Five More Minutes and Haul Out the Holly. In 2009, at age 25, Sandberg became the youngest producer to win a Tony Award. Broadway and West End producing credits include Hair (2009 Tony Award), Gore Vidal’s The Best Man starring James Earl Jones and Angela Lansbury, and Will Eno’s The Realistic Joneses starring Toni Collette, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts, and Marisa Tomei. He is a graduate of Yale University and a member of SDC, Actors Equity Association, and the Writers Guild of America.
Sacrilegious
World Premiere
A New Comedy by Tom Schulman
Directed by Andy Sandberg
5 December 2026 - 23 January 2027
Press Night: Tuesday 15 December at 7 pm
Who says money can’t buy morality? On the holiest day of the year, an idealistic young rabbi does the one thing nobody saw coming – he dares to challenge the billionaire president of his congregation, questions a multi-million-dollar donation, and ignites a battle for the hearts and minds of the entire community.
What follows is a razor-sharp contest between principle and power. As reputations unravel and loyalties are tested, the community congregation must decide whether morality can survive when there’s $30 million on the table.
Sacrilegious is a smart, funny, and provocative new comedy that raises questions about what money can or can’t buy. Power, promiscuity, charity, and true love… it’s going to be one hell of a High Holy Days!
This world premiere, directed by Andy Sandberg, is written by Tom Schulman, the Academy Award-winning author of Dead Poets Society, What About Bob?, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Sacrilegious is the first original play from this Oscar-winning writer, who previously adapted his Dead Poets Society screenplay for the stage.
Tom Schulman wrote Dead Poets Society, for which he received an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He later adapted the film as a stage play, which premiered at Classic Stage Company in New York. His screenwriting credits include What About Bob?, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Medicine Man, and Holy Man. He wrote and directed Eight Heads in a Duffle Bag, served as executive producer on Indecent Proposal and Me, Myself & Irene, and was writer/producer of Welcome to Mooseport. He co-wrote and co-produced The Anatomy of Hope for HBO with J.J. Abrams and Rafael Yglesias, and wrote and directed Double Down South. Most recently, he co-wrote and co-produced the podcast series One Lane Road with CALLIE KHOURI, Trae Crowder, and T Bone Burnett. Schulman is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and has served on the board of directors and as Vice President of the Writers Guild of America.
Expecting
World Premiere
By Scott Elmegreen & Drew Fornarola
Directed by Andy Sandberg
30 January - 27 March 2027
Press Night: Tuesday 9 February at 7 pm
Zoey and Ethan are deciding whether or not to have a baby. The rest of their lives are figured out, but there’s nothing sexier than family planning, right? Meanwhile, Zoey’s younger sister Trish already has her hands full with two kids – or three if you count her new boyfriend Matt.
Amidst falling birthrates and the ever-present chaos of adulthood, two couples who were once convinced they can ‘have it all’ find themselves asking what they truly want… and if there’s ever an opportunity to reframe. Career ambitions, brunch plans, and the fate of humanity hang in the balance – not to mention the daunting considerations of legacy, parenting, and ‘expectations.’ Is it ever really the right time?
Directed by Andy Sandberg, Expecting is a new play by Scott Elmegreen and Drew Fornarola that explores why couples are waiting longer to have kids – or debating whether to have them at all.
Scott Elmegreen is a writer and composer based in Brooklyn and Chicago. He teaches playwriting, musical theatre writing, and songwriting at the University of Chicago. His work has premiered on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and around the world, and has been adapted to film for theatrical release, HBO, Hulu, and Disney+. His plays and musicals include Straight, Tiananmen, Thucydides, Ghost of John McCain, Hip Hop Cinderella, Ivy+Bean, and The Magic School Bus.
Drew Fornarola has written for DreamWorks’ Shrek and VeggieTale franchises and is the founding artistic director of Starring Buffalo. He has written eight Off-Broadway shows, including Straight (NY Times Critics’ Pick) and Tilly the Trickster with Molly Shannon, as well as films including VeggieTales: Noah’s Ark starring Wayne Brady. He is the recipient of a 2026 NYSCA Support for Artists Grant, a Biller Social Impact Grant, the 2024 Artie Award for Best New Play, and 10 MAC Award nominations for songwriting.
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