Park Theatre has announced five new shows, including two timely revivals at the start of 2026 and the winner of the Papatango New Writing Prize. The first time Park Theatre has partnered with Papatango Theatre Company will be on The Meat Kings! (Inc.) Of Brooklyn Heights by Hannah Doran, running throughout November. 2026 will start with the return of Troupe theatre after The Forsyte Saga with Noël Coward’s The Rat Trap a century after its premiere, and a revival of Athol Fugard’s The Train Driver to celebrate his work after his passing earlier in the year. Newly added to the Summer season are Steel by Lee Mattinson, and a special fundraiser with Dame Maureen Lipman.

In an evening of joyous entertainment. Maureen Lipman & Friends: Poetry & Jazz (11 May) is a stellar lineup from the worlds of poetry and jazz. With British poets Jeremy Robson and Pauline Prior-Pitt, multi-award-winning vocalist Jacqui Dankworth, acclaimed American jazz pianist Charlie Wood, British jazz stalwart Art Themen on sax, and an appearance from centenarian actress Thelma Ruby. With a number of surprise acts on the night, the evening will support Park Theatre’s initiatives including three programmes for those living with dementia and their carers, and also their access performances, ensuring there is at least one access performance for every run in the venue.

Steel comes to Park Theatre (11 – 14 June) as part of its national tour presented by Theatre by the Lake. Lee Mattinson’s play, set on the wet West Cumbrian coast, follows mates James and Kamran when one of them discovers he is heir to a single mile of the British railway system. The lads are forced on a town-wide treasure hunt where annihilated aunties, Snakebite-drenched drag queens and a zombie Princess Diana lay in wait. In a town once rich with coal seams and ore, with community and carnivals, with sea air and ale, James and Kamran are fed up with feeling different – tonight they’re painting the town technicolour and asking what it means to be a man in a play about first loves, forging identities and the wild, wild hearts of teenage boys.

For the inaugural partnering between Park Theatre and Papatango Theatre Company on the Papatango New Writing Prize, winning play The Meat Kings! (Inc.) Of Brooklyn Heights (30 Oct – 29 Nov) is Hannah Doran’s drama carving into the dark underbelly of America’s anti-immigration policies and the brutal sacrifices that drive the pursuit of prosperity. T is the new summer hire at Cafarelli & Sons, an iconic New York butcher, but life in a messy cutting room isn’t glamorous. With the American dream of a better life hanging in the balance, T and her colleagues-turned-competitors sweat for their jobs. Alliances form, romance sparks, and loyalties shift.

Kicking off 2026, The Train Driver (14 Jan – 7 Feb) is a timely revival of Athol Fugard’s soulful exploration of guilt, suffering, racial intolerance and the powerful bonds that grow between strangers, based on a true story. In December 2000, Cape Flats, South Africa, a woman steps in front of a train with her baby on the railway tracks between Philippi and Nyanga. Two months later Roelf, the train driver, has spent weeks searching for the identities of the victims. After a fruitless journey through shanty towns, he encounters an old gravedigger named Simon who helps the desperate man unburden his conscience.

And finally, returning to Park Theatre after their hugely successful The Forsyte Saga Part 1 and 2, Troupe will be giving Noël Coward’s The Rat Trap (28 Jan – 14 Mar) a stylish period revival on its 100th anniversary. In fashionable 1920s Belgravia, Sheila, a talented novelist, and Keld, an aspiring playwright, embark on married life. Both are fiercely ambitious, but when Keld’s career takes off and Sheila’s doesn’t, professional jealousy and an affair have a devastating effect on their marriage.

Artistic Director Jez Bond said, “I’m pleased to announce four plays and a fundraiser – with both spaces boasting a piece of new writing and a revival to enthral our audiences. We’re pleased to be working with two producers new to us, to begin a partnership with Papatango and to welcome back Troupe Productions (following their success with The Forsythe Saga). As we enter our thirteenth year, and arts funding seems more challenging than ever, we’re honoured by the continued support of our fabulous friends of stage and screen; and are delighted to welcome back Maureen Lipman and friends for a fundraising evening of poetry and jazz.”

Park Theatre presents exceptional theatre in the heart of Finsbury Park, boasting two world-class performance spaces: Park200 for predominantly larger scale productions by established talent, and Park90, a flexible studio space, for emerging artists. In eleven years, it has enjoyed 10 West End transfers (including Rose starring Maureen Lipman, The Boys in the Band starring Mark Gatiss, Pressure starring David Haig and The Life I Lead starring Miles Jupp), two National Theatre transfers, 14 national tours, seven Olivier Award nominations, has won multiple OffWestEnd Offie Awards, and a Theatre of the Year award from The Stage as well as their inaugural Campaign of the Year award in 2025 for their work reaching underserved audiences with Canadian/ Korean comedy drama Kim’s Convenience.