Rose Theatre Reveals Spring 2024 Season

Rose Theatre has announced their Spring 2024 season continuing their commitment to international collaboration and supporting artist development.

The world premiere stage adaptation of the multi award-winning children’s book The Boy at the Back of the Class opens at the Rose on 8 February and then embarks on a UK tour with the Children’s Theatre Partnership. Based on the novel by Onjali Q. Raúf, adapted by Nick Ahad and directed by Monique Touko, The Boy at the Back of the Class is a timely, humorous and heart-warming story about the power of kindness, engaging children and their families in discussions around refugee rights. 

New play Succession Theme is My Ringtone by Joe Kerridge plays from 15 - 17 February in the Rose Studio, directed by 2021/22 Peter Hall Emerging Artist Fellow Layla Madanat.

Zinnie Harris’ acclaimed production of Macbeth (An Undoing) comes to the Rose in March in an international collaboration with The Royal Lyceum Edinburgh and Theatre for a New Audience in New York. 

Based on Rachel Bright and Jim Field’s bestselling children’s story about finding your roar, The Lion Inside runs at the Rose from 28 March in a brand-new adaptation for the stage by Sarah Punshon, who directs, with music and lyrics by Eamonn O’Dwyer.  

Atri Banerjee’s bold reimagining of Tennessee Williams' semi-autobiographical masterpiece, The Glass Menagerie, plays in April as a co-production with Alexandra Palace Theatre and Belgrade Theatre in association with the Royal Exchange Manchester.

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler favourite Zog and the Flying Doctors, returns to the Rose,  and a new stage adaptation of their beloved book Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book will also delight young audiences. 

The Rose also announces the Rose Directing Fellowship, a new talent development scheme in partnership with the Drama League in New York which will form the basis for a long-term exchange program for emerging directors between the UK and the US.

Christopher Haydon, Artistic Director, said “It gives me enormous pride and excitement to announce our Spring Season for 2024. We are totally committed to our enduring family audiences and so are producing two Rose Original family productions across February half-term and Easter 2024. The first is a world premiere of Nick Ahad’s adaptation of Onjali Q. Raúf’s best-selling book for children, The Boy at the Back of the Class. This will be directed by Monique Touko – one of the most exciting young directors working today. It's a thrilling adventure about a group of children who come to the help of a refugee boy who has newly arrived in their class. I’m so pleased to be collaborating with the Children’s Theatre Partnership to bring this vital show to theatres across the UK amid a political climate that is increasingly characterised by hostility and cruelty towards some of the most vulnerable people on earth.

Our second family Rose Original  for family audiences is  Sarah Punshon and Eamonn O’Dwyer’s adaptation of the wildly popular children’s book The Lion Inside, by Rachel Bright and Jim Field, a bestselling story about confidence and self-esteem. We’re also delighted to be co-producing Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book, based on the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler,  which opens at Little Angel this autumn and will delight young audiences at the Rose next August. 

Rounding off our season we have two exceptional dramas: Macbeth (an undoing), Zinnie Harris’ blistering reimagining of Shakespeare’s most revered play which the Rose is producing as part of an international collaboration with the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh and Theatre For A New Audience in New York. Following this, Geradline Somerville (Gosford Park) stars in Atri Banarjee’s visionary production of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, which first wowed audiences at the Manchester Royal Exchange and which we are remounting with Alexandra Palace Theatre and Belgrade Theatre.

I am also delighted to announce a brand-new talent development scheme in partnership with the Drama League in New York which will form the basis for a long-term exchange program for emerging directors between the UK and the US. All of this, combined with our current partnership with the Norwegian Ibsen Company on Shooting Hedda Gabler, demonstrates a huge commitment on our part to being outward looking and internationalist in all that we do. The Rose is a home to artists, audiences and humans from across the world. We are a theatre that celebrates our differences rather than fearing those who come to our shores.”

Over the course of this season the Rose will produce five major  productions which, as well as playing in their Kingston home, will tour to dozens of venues around the country and abroad. Many of these shows will run concurrently ensuring that the Rose's work will extend into new communities and demonstrates the Rose’s ambition as one of the most prolific producing theatres in the UK at the moment. 

Although the Rose receives no regular funding from Arts Council England, the venue achieves all of this with the invaluable support of  two key funders: The Royal Borough of Kingston and Kingston University.

Alongside the exciting Rose Original family productions next Spring, the Rose is also announcing brand-new membership schemes for family audiences and for people aged 30 & under. Continuing the success of their Friends membership, audiences can sign up to a plethora of benefits including: discounts on shows, discounts at the Rose Cafe/Bar, discounts with their local restaurant and retail partners and exclusive events and opportunities. For more information, visit their memberships page here.

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