Leeds Playhouse to reopen with series of monologues written by Maxine Peake, Simon Armitage and more

Photo credit: Gamma Illumination

Leeds Playhouse is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a new season beginning with a series of six commissioned monologues: Decades: Stories of the City. Each monologue tells a story set in each of the five decades in the history of the theatre, and are written by Maxine Peake, Simon Armitage, Leanna Benjamin, Kamal Kaan, Alice Nutter and Stan Owens.

Directors for the series will include Leeds Playhouse artistic director James Brining, Amy Leach, Sameena Hussain, Evie Manning, Tess Seddon and Amanda Huxtable. 

Decades: Stories of the City will run live at the Courtyard Theatre from the 19-29 May, and will also be made available to watch online from 24 May-5 June.

The season will also feature Fairy Poppins and the Naughty Winter Ghost by Robert Alan Evans, directed by Alexander Ferris. This family show will open in Playhouse Square in late spring before embarking on a community tour.

Further details of the re-opening season will be announced next week, and the venue have also announced a special exhibition curated by Courtney Spencer: 50 Years of Leeds Playhouse to celebrate the theatre’s history.

James Brining says: “Our 50th anniversary celebrations are a welcome back gift for us to share with the city. Whether we’re live in the theatre, across neighbourhoods or in people’s homes, this is our time to celebrate together; to look back on what we’ve achieved and to look forward to all the wonderful adventures to come.”

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