Forbes Masson in ORPHANS and More Set for Jermyn Street Theatre 2026 Fall Season

With rehearsals currently underway for Katherine Moar’s world premiere Ragdoll, Jermyn Street Theatre revealed the first two productions in its 2026 Season.

The season opens with a revival of Lyle Kessler’s Tony Award-nominated modern classic Orphans, starring Forbes Masson as Harold, and directed by former Carne Deputy Director of Jermyn Street Theatre Al Miller. The production opens on 7 January, with previews from 5 January, and runs until 24 January 2026. Further casting to be announced at a later date.

Following this, Emma Howlett’s Aether makes its London premiere following a sold-out run at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Howlett also directs the production, which features returning cast members Gemma Barnett, Sophie Kean, Anna Marks Pryce, and Abby McCann. The production opens on 17 March, with previews from 16 March, and runs until 21 March 2026.
 
Artistic Director Stella Powell-Jones and Co-Artistic Director and Executive Producer David Doyle said: "We’re spotlighting two exciting productions ahead of our Spring season announcement: Al Miller’s revival of Lyle Kessler's Orphans and Emma Howlett’s Aether. Al has left a lasting mark on our theatre during his time as Carne Deputy Director, and it’s a joy to welcome him back as a director in his own right with Orphans. Emma’s Aether captivated Edinburgh audiences, and we’re delighted to share it with London audiences. Both Al and Emma are directors on remarkable journeys, and it’s a privilege to be part of their story."

Jermyn Street Theatre presents

ORPHANS

By Lyle Kessler

5 – 24 January 2026
Press Performance: Wednesday 7 January at 7:30pm

Cast: Forbes Masson (Harold)

Director: Al Miller; Set and Costume Designer: Sarah Beaton;
Lighting Designer: Simeon Miller; Sound Designer and Composer: Donato Wharton

If you’re looking for justice, you’re living in the wrong century.
 
Philadelphia, 1983. Twenty-eight year old Phillip hasn’t stepped outside in years — happily surviving on canned tuna, encyclopedias, and his own wild theories about the dangers beyond the door. His older brother Treat runs his world with rules and rituals to keep them safe, bringing home whatever he can steal. Then, one night, Treat drags in Harold, a dapper stranger stuffed with cash and soaked in whiskey. The perfect target… or so it looks. By morning, nothing will be the same.

After taking Broadway by storm, a new production of Lyle Kessler’s Tony Award nominated play comes to Jermyn Street Theatre. Former Carne Deputy Director Al Miller directs this darkly comic, unflinching and moving modern classic.

Lyle Kessler is a playwright, screenwriter and actor. His other playwriting credits include The Watering Place, Perp, House on Fire, Robbers, Unlisted, Burning Bright (winner of the New York State Council on the Arts Playwright Award), The Family Circle, The Engagement, and The Viewing. His work for screen includes Orphans, The Saint of Fort Washington, Gladiator, and Touched.

Forbes Masson plays Harold. He returns to Jermyn Street Theatre following his roles in Laughing Boy and Farm Hall (also Theatre Royal Haymarket and UK tour). His further theatre credits include Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Jekyll and Hyde, Rebus: A Game Called Malice (UK tours), Newsies (Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre), The Taxidermist’s Daughter (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Magician’s Elephant, The Boy in the Dress, The Taming of the Shrew  (RSC), Bartholomew Fair, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Boudica (Shakespeare’s Globe), Summer and Smoke (Almeida Theatre and Duke of York’s Theatre), Little Shop of Horrors (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Big Fish (The Other Palace), Terror (Lyric Hammersmith Theatre), Travesties (Menier Chocolate Factory and Apollo Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theatre Royal Bath), Doctor Faustus (Duke of York’s Theatre), Mr Foote’s Other Leg (Hampstead Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket), The Ruling Class, Richard III, Macbeth (Trafalgar Theatre). His television credits include The High Life (as series regular Steve McCracken), The Crown, The Marlowe Sessions, As You Like It, Royal Mob, Crime, Father Brown, Catastrophe, Shetland: Dead Water, My Life Story, No Holds Bard, Monarch of the Glen, Supergirly, EastEnders, The Young Person’s Guide to Becoming a Rock Star, and Only Child; and for film, The Road Dance.

Al Miller directs. He is the former Carne Deputy Director of Jermyn Street Theatre. As Assistant and Associate Director, his credits include The Hobbit, Cinderella (Oxford Playhouse), and Bon Ami (Battersea Arts Centre, Unicorn Theatre and UK tour).
 

Jermyn Street Theatre presents the TheatreGoose production of

AETHER

Written and Directed by Emma Howlett

16 – 21 March 2026
Press Night: Tuesday 17 March at 7:30pm

Cast: Gemma Barnett, Sophie Kean, Anna Marks Pryce, Abby McCann

Set & Costume Designer: Ellie Wintour; Lighting Designer: Ed Saunders; Composer and Sound Designer: Sarah Spencer; Dramaturg: Sophie Kean

Beauty, to us physicists, is something we’ve never seen before.

A PhD student hunting dark matter collides with a disillusioned illusionist, a teenage medium with a secret, a murdered mathematician, and a trail-blazing astronomer to investigate the greatest unsolved mystery of the universe. Weaving together fact, fiction, and everything in between, Aether explores physics, faith, and magic in rich theatrical spectacle to uncover humanity’s insatiable fascination with the unknown.
 
Fresh from its sold-out run at Edinburgh Fringe 2025, Aether makes its London premiere at Jermyn Street Theatre. Crowned Best Theatre Show of the Fringe by The Telegraph and with writer-director Emma Howlett named one of The Stage’s Fringe Five, this breakthrough hit plays just eight unmissable performances.

Emma Howlett is a writer and director. As Artistic Director of TheatreGoose, she has written and directed Her Green Hell, Sisters Three, and Aether (winner of The Fringe Five Award). Her other directing work includes Grounded (The Bridge Theatre, Brussels), Enron (Oxford Playhouse), and Copenhagen (Theatre Royal Bath); and as Assistant Director, Farm Hall (UK tour), and A View from the Bridge (Theatre Royal Bath and West End). Howlett is a member of the Royal Court Writers’ Group, a recipient of the New Theatre Writing Residency from the Hugo Burge Foundation and the Lustrum Award, and is currently adapting her full-length play Bumps into a feature film.

Gemma Barnett’s theatre credits include Revenge: After the Levoyah (The Yard Theatre, Soho Theatre and Edinburgh Festival Fringe), The Invincibles (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch), The Beach House (Park Theatre), Crimea 5AM (Kiln Theatre), Dido’s Bar (Dash Arts), Agatha (Pleasance Theatre, London), Dr Korczak’s Example (Leeds Playhouse), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare in the Squares), A Hundred Words for Snow (Trafalgar Theatre – Best Solo Performance OffWest End Award), and Lola (Vaults Festival). Her film credits include Please Carry On, Preggo, Bridge, I Killed Them When They Came for My Kid, and Miss.
 
Sophie Kean’s theatre credits include Sisters Three, Her Green Hell (UK tours), and Scenes for John (National Theatre Studio). Kean graduated from Rose Bruford College in 2024.

Anna Marks Pryce’s theatre credits include 4 Girls the First Letter E (King’s Head Theatre), Fairytale Ending (‘A Word After A Word After A Word’) (Union Theatre), The Creature, The Snow Queen (Rose Theatre Kingston), and It’s Ok, I Still Think You’re Great (Baron’s Court Theatre).