Park Theatre Announces Three New-Writing Premieres for 2027 Park90 Season

Park Theatre Artistic Director Jez Bond and Executive Director Catherine McKenney have announced welcoming three new-writing productions for its 2027 Park90 season, running from 2 March to 10 July 2027. Bringing together acclaimed writers, award-winning creatives and leading theatre companies, the programme features the London premiere of Birdcatcher, the world premiere of Let the Whale Die and The Gentleman of Wimbledon.

New writing lineup spanning coming-of-age drama, satire and historical biography

Birdcatcher

The London premiere of Birdcatcher, a Pentabus production in association with Papatanago Theatre Company, Middle Child Theatre and Park Theatre, will run from Tuesday 2 to Saturday 27 March 2027.

A coming-of-age story about finding your voice within an apocalyptic high-control group, Birdcatcher explores the pressure of growing up in a world where the end is always just around the corner. Blending wit with darker themes, the play examines what it means to imagine a future when everyone around you believes there isn’t one.

Written by Papatango Prize-winning playwright Laura Waldren and directed by Pentabus’s BAFTA-winning Artistic Director Elle While, Birdcatcher stars Lucy Mangan. The creative team includes set and costume designer Amy Jane Cook, lightening designer Jessie Addinall, sound designer Helen Skiera and movement director Asha Jennings-Grant.

Let the Whale Die

The world premiere of Let the Whale Die, a new play presented by New Perspectives and Royal & Derngate, Northampton, in association with Park Theatre, runs from Tuesday 4 to Saturday 15 May 2027.

Meg Schadler’s darkly comic and provocative new play explores rebellion, expectation and the courage to escape your cage. The story centres on ‘Girl’, an aquarium worker whose sole responsibility is to care for the facility’s star attractions: an orca whale. But now the whale is dead, and everyone wants answers. Girl, however, has no intention of explaining herself. As pressure mounts, what appears to be a crisis to everyone else begins to feel like a new beginning.

Directed by New Perspectives’ artistic Director and CEO Angharad Jones, Let the Whale Die takes audiences on a strange and unsettling journey into the mind of a woman who has stopped explaining herself and has no intention of giving people what they expect.

The Gentleman of Wimbledon

Based on the extraordinary true story, The Gentleman of Wimbledon will receive its world premiere at Park Theatre from Wednesday 16 June to Saturday 10 July 2027.

Set in 1930s Berlin, the play follows Baron Gottfried von Cramm, an aristocrat, international tennis sensation and one of Germany’s most celebrated sporting heroes. With the world seemingly at his feet, his future appears assured. However, away from the tennis court, Gottfried inhabits a very different world of queer love, pleasure and freedom in Weimar Berlin. As Germany descends into fascism, Gottfried is forced to confront impossible choices in a society where even private relationships carry political consequences.

Written by New York-based playwright Oliver Lehne and directed by award-winning director Matthew Iliffe, The Gentleman of Wimbledon will be presented in the round.

Park Theatre Artistic Director Jez Bond said “Park90 has always been a space for bold ideas, new voices and stories that challenge expectations. These three plays are very different in subject and style, but each explores individuals confronting the world around them and finding the courage to make their own choices. We’re delighted to be collaborating with such an exciting range of writers, directors and producing partners, and to continue championing ambitious new writing on our intimate Park90 stage.”

For further information visit the Park Theatre website.