Book now: don't miss our final two productions of Festival 2026!

News 11 Sept 2026

News Story

It has certainly been a whizzpoppingly, blooming loverly Festival season, and we're preparing to send it off in style with our final two productions. So if you haven't yet got your tickets, be sure to grab them and celebrate the end of Festival 2026 with us. 

Join us in the exuberant and enchanted world of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as you've never imagined it before. Over in the Minerva our season of world premieres comes to a striking climax with Antigone Exits. Scroll down to delve deeper...

The King doth keep his revels here tonight

A company rehearse in a studio space. There is a rasied platform at the back with three actors stood on. The rest of the company is on the floor, dancing. A man stands in the front centre wearing a police hat. He looks shocked. Members of the creative team sit behind tables in front of them.
Three actors sit on a golf buggy. One man is leaning on the steering wheel wearing a white t-shirt and a cao. The woman in the middle is holding a flask and the man on the right has one foot on the dashboard of the buggy and is holding a water bottle. They are all smiling to the side.
A company rehearse in a studio space. Three actors sit on a raised platform looking down at the other actors. The man on the left is crouching over, knees bent and has his hands under his chin with his mouth open in shock/ The man in the middle has a handmade lions mane around his head and has his hands up like claws and mouth open 'scaring' the man on the left. The man on the right has his hands on his hips, looking strong. The two actors behind them look in shock, the man with a microphone and the woman with a handmade costume on.
A man and a woman stand with an arm around each other. The woman has her hair in a bun, wearing a blue vest and black trousers. The man is wearing a white v-neck t-shirt and grey trousers. They are both smiling.
A woman in a long blue coat and her hair pulled back into a clip holds a man up by his tie. He is wearing a striped shirt, a red tie, a jean jacket that has come off his shoulders and green trousers. He has a moustache and glasses.
A company of actors rehearse and are dancing. The actors are mid-jump, their arms raised above their heads.

For our Festival Theatre finale we're heading back to Sussex in the 90s where raves and revelry do ensue. But as we all know, the course of true love never did run smooth and as night falls, psychedelic potions lead to startling transformations in the heady haze of freedom and desire. In the South Downs, magic is real. Anything can happen.

Artistic Director Justin Audibert follows his acclaimed Hamlet and hugely popular production Redlands, co-directing with Hannah Joss (Choir) in a production which celebrates Shakespeare's language while spinning the world of Elizabethan players into full-colour living memory. 

Get in the spirt with our company's picks for their Dream 90s playlist, take a look at our new trailer or scroll through the rehearsal gallery on the show page and join us for the party to end all parties!

A Midsummer Night's Dream runs from 18 September - 17 October with tickets from £10. 

Ancient Greece crashes into the contemporary

A wide shot of a rehearsal studio. A man and a woman stand far apart at either end of the room. The woman has her curly hair tied up and is wearing a white top and blue jeans. She has her hands clasped together in front of her. The man is wearing a blue t-shirt and black shorts. He has his hands in front of him, palms facing up like he's holding something. Other members of the company sit on the stage behind them, watching.
A company are mid-rehearsal. Two actors on the right are chasing each other, running. The two actors in the middle are stood still, the man is looking at the pair chasing each other and the woman is gesturing with her hands. The woman on the right stands laughing looking at the group. Other members of the company sit on chairs behind them, watching.
A woman with dark curly hair and a white top and blue jeans stands facing a man with his back to the camera. She has a slight smile. She holds her hands behind her back.
Four members of the company stand in a line. They are all looking to their left and smiling. The man on the left wears a blue t-shirt and black shorts, with his hands on his hips. The woman next to him is wearing a denim top and trousers, glasses on her head and has her hand on her chin. The woman next to her is wearing a stripy t-shirt and black trousers, her hands together in front of her. The man on the right has a white t-shirt, beige jacket and blue trousers with his hands behind his back.

Sophocles' classic tragedy shines a scorching light onto our current world in Nina Segel's modern adaptation which brings Antigone blazing into the present day. 

Twenty-five centuries after Antigone, seven performers gather to re-tell the tale of what is buried and what comes of it in this striking world premiere directed by Jeff James. 

View the full rehearsal gallery and see the cast list over on the show page. 

Antigone Exits opens on 26 September for just three weeks, with tickets from £10.