THE PELICOT TRIAL and More Set For Young Vic 2026/7 Season

The Young Vic Theatre's Artistic Director and CEO Nadia Fall has announced details of the final four shows that complete her 2026/7 season -  a programme of compelling international storytelling from world-class theatre makers and exciting new voices.

From political acts to bitingly dark satires and a weimar-esque cabaret, to an otherworldly journey unfolding within a shipping container, the final four shows in the 2026/7 season experiment with form to create startlingly relevant, theatrical responses to the world around us.

The Pelicot Trial

The Chamber at London County Hall, Home of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution, 30 Nov 2026

The UK Premiere of Milo Rau and Servane Dècle's The Pelicot Trial will receive its UK premiere at London County Hall (home to Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution). A profoundly affecting piece of documentary theatre which comprises testimonies and written accounts from the trial, police files, social commentary and psychiatric reports of the 51 men who were prosecuted as part of Gisèle Pelicot's Case. This special one-off event forms an urgent statement on the prevalence of sexual violence and its legal treatment. Performed by a company of 30 actors and public figures, The Pelicot Trial pays tribute to an ordinary woman who sparked a global reckoning, opening the way for change.

A Hunger Artist

The Maria Theatre, 9 - 26 June 2027

Former Royal Ballet Principal Edward Watson stars as the Hunger Artist alongside international performance artist Meow Meow as the Impresario in a reimagining of Franz Kafka's seminal short story A Hunger Artist. From the team behind the Olivier Award-winning dance adaptation of Kafka's The Metamorphoses, choreographer Arthur Pita directs, with live music by Frank Moon. This immersive theatrical spectacle utilises music, song, dance and theatre to explore sacrifice, obsession, and the relentless pursuit of perfection.

What's the F**king Point?

The Maria Theatre, 2 - 24 April 2027

Multi award-winning disability-led theatre company FlawBored present the London premiere of new show What's the F**king Point?, written by Samuel Brewer, Aarian Mehrabani, Chloe Palmer and Josh Roche, who also directs. A bitingly dark satire, What's The F**king Point? skewers medical bureaucracy, identity politics and our desperate human need to feel significant.

DARKFIELD

Outside the Young Vic Theatre on The Cut, 24 March - 24 April 2027)

Pioneering immersive theatre producers DARKFIELD will transport audiences to an otherworldly hotel in Eulogy. Performed in complete darkness within a shipping container situated outside the Young Vic, Eulogy uses binaural sound and speech recognition technology to deceive the senses, taking you on a surreal, dream-like journey that only exists in your mind.

Main House shows

Further casting announced for Main House shows includes Lashana Lynch (The Day of the Jackal) leading the World Premiere of dissent, the explosive new play written and directed by Olivier and BAFTA award-winner Debbie Tucker Green (ear for eye) and Deanna H. Choi and Glyn Pritchard will join Ben Whishaw and Kathryn Hunter in the World Premiere of Colin Teevan's adaptation of Christian Kracht's international best-seller Eurotrash directed by Walter Meierjohann.

The Young Vic will also launch development programmes designed to help future-proof the sector and support the next generation of theatre makers. This includes a multistrand pathway for directors, a new young company, and technical and producing training programmes, with new local and school programmes announced too.

Nadia Fall said: “I'm excited to announce four new additions to our current season, deliberately designed to offer something unexpected, with theatre that is literally and figuratively 'outside the box'! Milo Rau's extraordinary testimonial piece The Pelicot Trial  breaks out beyond our theatre walls to County Hall; a piece of confronting event-theatre which bears witness to the harrowing story of Gisèle Pelicot. We also join forces with the ever-innovative DARKFIELD to present their binaural piece Eulogy which is conjured up in the pitch darkness of a shipping container parked outside The Young Vic. Meanwhile in our Maria Studio we have What's the F**king Point a new satire by the mischievous and subversive FlawBored theatre company, and A Hunger Artist which brings the latest collaboration between choreographer Arthur Pita, prolific dancer Ed Watson and Australian cabaret star Meow Meow in this physical retelling of Kafka's twisted tale. Nothing about these pieces are 'meat and two veg' trad-theatre!

The Young Vic has always been synonymous with visionary directors and for over fifty years we have been the training ground for young directors particularly through our studio spaces. We are also a theatre that has always encouraged growth and experimentation from our directors throughout all stages of their practise. Our uniquely shape-shifting spaces, breadth of programming and Young Vic personality free artists to be bold and take risks.

Building on that legacy, The Directors' Cut is a new umbrella of artist development and training opportunities, as well as an initiative to support artistic exchange and expression. We want to be a home and platform for directors in a climate where it's harder and harder to make work. As an Artistic Director one of my favourite and perhaps most sacred roles is the midwifery of the shows: the unique collaboration with every director in the building, together with the discovery of new voices. Through The Directors' Cut programme our ambition is to support our artists and invest in the directors of tomorrow. We also want to experiment with new and inventive ways to artistically invigorate directors through international exchange and a provocation to explore the space where theatre practice meets filmmaking.”

Building on the organisation's 50-year legacy as a directors' theatre the Young Vic has announced The Directors' Cut, a pathway designed to offer support and opportunities for directors at every stage of their careers. Relaunched and developed in response to the increased challenges that theatremakers now face, The Directors' Cut will look to address the gap within director development through mentoring, professional training, networks and practical opportunities. Initially this programme will offer introductions to directing, directing intensives, international exchange visits with European partners and Assistant Director positions on Young Vic productions. Further details of the Directors' Cut will be announced in the coming months.

For thirty years, the Young Vic's work has extended beyond the walls of the building, fostering long-lasting relationships with the communities of Southwark and Lambeth through Young Vic Taking Part. Next month, Taking Part will launch three new provisions that look to create tangible opportunities for young people aged 18 - 25 within the performing arts. The first is a new Young Vic Young Company which will provide free industry training for ten young people over a 6-month period. Led by Director Adam Karim, the Young Company will perform in a brand-new commissioned play in the Young Vic's Maria Theatre in July 2027. Recruitment for the Young Vic Young Company is now open and details can be found on the Young Vic website. The second responds to the ongoing technical skills shortages within the sector, with the  launch of new programme Young Vic Young Technicians. The course provides paid 'on the job' training for eight young people led by the Young Vic's in-house production team, during which they will gain vital experience working on Young Vic Main House shows. Completing the new offer will be the launch of Young Vic Young Disruptors, a new producer programme which will offer eight young people experience and training in early-stage producer and event management skills. Applications for the Young Vic Young Company and Young Vic Young Technicians open today, with applications for the Young Vic Young Disruptors opening next month.

In addition to the launch of these three programmes, Young Vic Taking Part has also expanded its Neighbourhood Theatre programme. Neighbourhood Play will offer a series of performance-based projects around the current season whilst Neighbourhood Community Casts will provide local community groups and residents with the opportunity to be part of mainstage productions. New in-school projects will also launch in the coming months. Underpinning all of the department's activity is a commitment to ensuring the widest possible audience can access world-class theatre at the Young Vic with free tickets available for every performance.

Booking for dissent, Gem of the Ocean, What's The F**king Point?, Eulogy and A Hunger Artist opens at 11am on 1 October for Patrons+, with booking for Good Friends from 5 October and Friends from 6 October with general on sale from 11am on 7 October.