Photos: First Look At Punchdrunk Enrichment’s FIRESIDE TALES

First-look production photos have been released for the world premiere of Punchdrunk Enrichment’s Fireside Tales, opening in London this Christmas. The production will run from 6 December 2025 to 4 January 2026 at Punchdrunk Enrichment Stores in Wembley Park. Tickets start from £15 and are on sale now.

New production photography released today offers an early look at the immersive experience, which is designed for children aged 7–11 and their grown-ups. The press performance will take place Sunday 7 December at 11am. Evening performances at 7:30pm for adults only will also be offered, with tickets available at punchdrunkenrichment.org.uk/events/fireside-tales.

Fireside Tales is written and directed by incoming Artistic Director of Punchdrunk Enrichment Steve McCourt, with additional material devised by the company. The cast, who will rotate two roles, features Siddiqua Akhtar, whose screen credits include A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (BBC/Netflix) and stage credits include Tartuffe at Birmingham Rep; Rebecca Clark, who has recently performed with Frantic Assembly and Complicité; Amari Harris, known for work as a storyteller and drama facilitator with venues including the Old Vic and Half Moon Theatre; and Alex Stedman, whose credits include The Lost Lending Library (Punchdrunk Enrichment) and Murder On The Orient Express on its UK and Ireland tour.

The creative team includes designer Mydd Pharo, whose previous work spans WildWorks, Kneehigh, Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Court, The National Theatre and the Young Vic; Costume Designer Melissa Simon-Hartman, who has collaborated with artists such as Beyoncé and Doja Cat and whose work has appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and GQ; lighting designer Sarah Readman, whose credits include Enitan’s Game (Punchdrunk Enrichment), The Glass Menagerie (Yard Theatre) and The Burnt City (as Lighting Associate); and sound designer Dominic Kennedy, whose work includes Enitan’s Game, God’s Dice at Soho Theatre and You Stupid Darkness for Paines Plough.

The production draws on the long-standing tradition of gathering around a fire to share stories. In Fireside Tales, audiences encounter a new story that has arrived as faintly as an ember—fragile, incomplete and in need of care in order to survive. Without attention, the story risks fading, being forgotten or transforming into something unrecognizable.

Fireside Tales explores the stories people tell, the ones they inherit, the ones that disappear and the act of listening that keeps them alive. Audiences are invited into an imaginative world where stories flicker like flames. Developed with schools, the production encourages young audiences to draw, write and share their own stories.