Saturday 14 November 2026
Islington’s King’s Head Theatre has announced its spring 2027 season, running from January to May. It includes two world premieres, Saving Alan Turing by Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky and Fault by Tom Ratcliffe, plus some of the most acclaimed shows from the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Audience favourites Luisa Omielan and Awkward Prods’ Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story also return to open the year. Here are five things to know about the season, with tickets on sale now.
1. January kicks off with two comedy favourites
BAFTA Breakthrough comedian Luisa Omielan returns with God Is a Woman: The Musical from 5 to 9 January. Based on her acclaimed stand-up special, the one-woman show reimagines the Bible from a female perspective, with Mary Magdalene centre stage, plus music and audience participation. Then Awkward Prods’ international hit Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story returns from 19 to 31 January to celebrate its fifth anniversary. Combining drag, puppetry, multimedia and outrageous comedy, it invites audiences to join Diana in heaven as she recounts a gloriously unconventional version of her life. Awkward Prods will also bring back how to live a jellicle life for two special nights, with dates to be announced.
2. Fault serves up a tennis thriller
The first world premiere of the season is Fault, running from 3 to 28 March. It’s a gripping new psychological thriller by Tom Ratcliffe, the writer of Evelyn and Wreckage, set in the high-stakes world of professional tennis. The play follows an openly gay player on the brink of breaking into the world’s top ten, whose career is threatened when a former best friend returns with a dangerous secret. Exploring ambition, betrayal and match-fixing, it asks how far someone will go to win, and what they will sacrifice to stay at the top. Ratcliffe previously directed Breeding during the venue’s inaugural season in its new home.
3. Saving Alan Turing tells the codebreaker’s final chapter
The second premiere is Saving Alan Turing, from 21 April to 30 May, with press night on 28 April. Written by Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky, whose The Gang of Three and In the Print enjoyed sold-out runs at the King’s Head, it explores the final 18 months of the life of pioneering mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing. The witty and moving historical drama looks at his unlikely friendship with psychiatrist Dr Franz Greenbaum, and the persecution he faced as a gay man in 1950s Britain. Kirsty Patrick Ward directs, with set and costume design by Libby Watson, reuniting the creative team behind The Gang of Three. Casting is to be announced.
4. Award-winning plays straight from the Edinburgh Fringe
Olivier Award-winning Irish company Fishamble presents For Dolores from 31 March to 17 April. Written by Eva O’Connor and directed by Jim Culleton, it follows Mo and Réaltín, two women whose intense friendship develops at university, exploring love, motherhood and the mistakes that shape our lives. It won Summerhall’s Bragi Award at the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and was named among Rolling Stone UK’s top Fringe picks. Before that, Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight makes its London premiere from 3 to 21 February. Written by Olivier Award-nominated playwright John Kolvenbach and starring Jim Ortlieb, it’s an intimate solo show about a man desperate for human connection, who turns to the audience.
5. Flat-pack comedy and a pub tour on a tandem
Emily Weitzman’s solo comedy Furniture Boys plays from 25 to 27 February, after runs at the Fringe and Off-Broadway’s SoHo Playhouse. Recommended by The New York Times and given four stars by The Guardian, it turns boyfriends into futons and breakups into broken chairs, all set in a furniture showroom. Comedy duo Thinking Drinkers follow from 9 to 21 March with The Great British Pub Ride, inspired by their 1,000-mile tandem ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats, with five free drinks for every audience member. Senior Producer and Programmer Zoe Weldon said: “We’re kicking off the year with a comedic bang, bringing some much-needed laughter to the January blues.”
Tickets and info
King’s Head Theatre, 116p Upper Street, Islington, London N1 1QP
God Is a Woman: The Musical – 5 to 9 January 2027
Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story – 19 to 31 January
Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight – 3 to 21 February
Furniture Boys – 25 to 27 February
Fault – 3 to 28 March
Thinking Drinkers: The Great British Pub Ride – 9 to 21 March
For Dolores – 31 March to 17 April
Saving Alan Turing – 21 April to 30 May (press night 28 April)
Pay What You Can performances available, plus Under 35s and local N1 memberships