Seven Dials Playhouse Announces 2026 Spring Season: Extraordinary Stories

Seven Dials Playhouse is delighted to announce Extraordinary Stories, the new Spring Season running from 3rd February - 29th March 2026, that spotlight the vast, complicated and often surprising narratives that shape our lives. From drug-trial confessions to queer history, dementia’s shifting realities to the fervour of fandom, Extraordinary Stories brings together artists delving into remarkable experiences, individual journeys, or the extraordinary stories hidden in everyday life

This season continues Seven Dials Playhouse’s commitment to curated, artist-led programming that elevates bold new work and gives it the time, space and support to grow. The venue’s spring programme reflects an ongoing mission to champion distinctive voices and compelling contemporary storytelling.

In both the main space, The House, and the studio space, The Pen, Extraordinary Stories showcases a wide range of theatrical forms - from solo performance to new writing, musical comedy to darkly comic horror; each reflecting the extraordinary complexity of the choices, histories and relationships that define us. 

Across the spring season, The House plays host to three striking new productions, each offering a sharply different window into contemporary life, with a fourth show still to be announced. Brainsluts introduces a group of strangers thrown together in a clinical drug trial, where oversharing becomes both a coping mechanism and comic chaos. The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me brings David Drake’s landmark solo play back to the stage in a vivid, tender and politically charged exploration of self-discovery and the legacy of the AIDS crisis. The Murmuration of Starlings closes the season with a sci-fi-tinged love story set inside a mind in decline, tracing the blurred edges of memory, myth and devotion.

Alongside the main House programme, The Pen hosts a trio of shorter runs showcasing bold new comedic voices. Olivia McLeod brings a Work in Progress brimming with gleeful vengeance. Hudson Hughes unveils At Your Service, a comedy-horror featuring a full coffin, electronic props and razor-sharp scares. And A Stan Is Born offers a musical celebration of pop divas and queer devotion, fresh from a sold-out summer season.

Peekaboo, presented by leapday, also joins the season. This monthly improv showcase brings some of London’s most exciting improvisers to the heart of the West End, mixing established performers with rising talent in a lively, playful night hosted by David Elms, a seasoned improviser, acclaimed comedian and the founder of leapday.

THE HOUSE

BRAINSLUTS

3rd – 13th February (Tue–Sat 7.30pm, Sun 8 Feb 5.30pm) | The HouseA new comedy play from Charlie Hartill Award finalist Dan Bishop.

Set over five Sundays, Brainsluts - a slang term used for participants of clinical drug testing - is a comedy play following five strangers in the midst of a trial. As the trial unfolds, these guinea pigs discover the sheer lengths each of them will go just to fill the silence. Oversharing ensues, secrets emerge and the stresses of their precarious lives are laid bare.

“Clever, fast and funny” - Beyond The Joke“Immensely fruitful... smart writing” - Chortle

THE NIGHT LARRY KRAMER KISSED ME

17th February – 1st March (Tue–Sat 7.30pm, Sat 3pm, Sun 5.30pm) | The HouseOriginally written in 1994 by Obie Award-winner David Drake, this groundbreaking solo piece became one of the longest-running solo plays in New York theatre history. 

Directed by Offie-nominated Adam Zane and starring Gabriel Clark (Hollyoaks/Jock Night/Tip Toe), Hive North (creators of Jock Night) brings this seminal work roaring back to the stage.

Funny, furious and heartbreakingly tender, The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me charts one man’s personal journey through self-discovery, desire, loss and activism. With a kaleidoscope of characters and vivid vignettes, the play captures the passion and urgency of the 1980s AIDS crisis, inspired by the indomitable spirit of playwright and activist Larry Kramer.

THE MURMURATION OF STARLINGS

3rd – 14th March (Tue–Sat 7.30pm, Sat 2.30pm) | The House

A love story set against a background of dementia, The Murmuration of Starlings places audiences inside the fragmented world of a man living with a mind in decline. Blurring reality with sci-fi, memory with myth, the piece traces a looping journey beginning just 150 yards from home.

As The Man, The Woman, The Boy and The Girl move through shifting timelines, lurking dangers and moments of unexpected solace, the play explores how far someone will go to protect the person they love, even as their own understanding of reality unravels. 

THE PEN

OLIVIA MCLEOD - WORK IN PROGRESS

5th February | 7.45pm | The Pen

For too long, Olivia has not been recognised as the genius she knows she is. Now, she's seeking vengeance on anyone who's ever stood in her way.

Directed by multi-award winning comedian Lou Wall. 

HUDSON HUGHES: AT YOUR SERVICE

6th February | 7.45pm | The Pen 

A comedy-horror centred on a TV celebrity bishop forced to preside over a rural funeral for a woman rumoured to be a witch. Featuring a full coffin on stage and Hudson Hughes’ signature blend of electronic props, video trickery and sharply timed scares.

A STAN IS BORN

10th – 12th February | 7.45pm | The Pen

This debut from Alexis Sakellaris is a musical comedy about obsession, pop divas and the queer joy of becoming a ‘stan’. Following a drastic move from New York City to rural Germany at the age of eight and trapped in a conservative culture clash, discovering women online became Alexis’s salvation. Céline, Whitney, Mariah, Beyoncé, Aretha…this show is a heartfelt tribute to them, and to the women in Alexis’s real life. 

Fresh from a sold-out summer season, a 4 star review from The Stage and a Best New Show nomination at Brighton Fringe.

PEEKABOO

30th Jan, 27th Feb, 27th Mar & 24th Apr | 7.45pm | The Pen

leapday presents Peekaboo, a monthly showcase of the best and most exciting improv comedy happening in London, in the heart of the West End.

For just £10, this is a chance to see established improvisers alongside up-and-comers in a lively and playful night, hosted by improv veteran and leapday founder David Elms.

2026 SPRING SEASON: EXTRAORDINARY STORIES will run at Seven Dials Playhouse, 1A Tower Street, London WC2H 9NP from 3rd February - 29th March 2026. For more information visit: https://www.sevendialsplayhouse.co.uk