Canterbury’s Marlowe Theatre Launches Its Spring 2026 Season
Offering something for everyone across the season, the theatre has revealed a stellar new lineup of shows for 2026, including a hit musicals Annie and Sylvia and top productions The Choir of Man and I’m Sorry, Prime Minister.
With its Tony award-winning book and score, the stunning production of Annie includes the unforgettable songs ‘It’s the Hard Knock Life’, ‘Easy Street’ and ‘Tomorrow’. The show will be heading to the Marlowe Theatre stage as part of its UK and Ireland tour from Tuesday 30 June to Saturday 4 July 2026.
But that’s not the only headlining musical to be newly announced. Coming from London’s Old Vic, Olivier Award-winning electrifying musical Sylvia, starring Beverley Knight (Sister Act, The Drifters Girl, Memphis the Musical), will also be in Canterbury from Monday 2 to Saturday 7 November 2026. Beverley Knight will be reprising her Olivier award-winning role as Emmeline Pankhurst in the show.
For musical fans, there’s plenty more on offer, too, including Barnum: The Circus Musical, coming to Kent from Tuesday 22 to Saturday 26 September. Matt Rawle (Cabaret, Evita, Les Misérables) will star as Barnum in this spectacular production directed by Jonathan O’Boyle and choreographed by Oti Mabuse. Featuring an extraordinary ensemble cast of over 20 actor-musicians, acrobats and circus acts, audiences will delight at every sight, wonder and miracle that the name Barnum stands for.
Theatregoers will also want to fasten their seatbelts for Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man, heading to the stage from Tuesday 10 to Saturday 14 November. Loosely based on Bizet’s ever-popular opera, it tells the story of how a 19th century Spanish cigarette factory becomes a greasy 1950’s garage-diner in the American mid-west, where the dreams and passions of a small-town are shattered by the arrival of a handsome and enigmatic stranger. Fuelled by heat and desire, the inhabitants are driven into an unstoppable spiral of greed, lust, betrayal and revenge. Matthew Bourne’s vivid storytelling combines with one of the most passionately dramatic scores ever written, with music by Terry Davies featuring Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite (after Bizet’s Carmen), to create a dance thriller like no other.
Image by: Johan Persson
And if that’s not enough music to your ears, other shows in the new programme include Aljaž & Janette: Let’s Face the Music and Dance (Wednesday 29 April 2026), MC Hammersmith: Hippity Hoppity Get Off My Property (Friday 29 May 2026), Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra (Wednesday 3 and Thursday 4 June 2026), London Symphonic Rock Orchestra (Saturday 6 June 2026), Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 June 2026) and The Ballad of Johnny & June (Tuesday 1 to Saturday 5 September 2026).
The Choir of Man will also be coming to Canterbury during its first ever UK tour, from Tuesday 28 July to Saturday 1 August. Direct from the West End, the Olivier Award-nominated, worldwide smash-hit brims with hits from artists such as Queen, Luther Vandross, Sia, Paul Simon, Adele, Guns & Roses, Avicii and Katy Perry to name but a few. This is a pub like no other! A wildly talented group of incredible instrumentalists, world-class wordsmiths, and sensational singers, this cast of nine (extra) ordinary guys serve it all… live!
Elsewhere in the schedule, fans of recent TV show Celebrity Traitors will want to head to historian David Olusoga’s A Gun Through Time on Sunday 26 April. Swapping the BBC reality show for the Marlowe stage, David’s one-nighter sees him uncover the story of four firearms that changed the world and the lives of our ancestors.
Families will also be entertained with the ever-popular Peppa Pig’s Big Family Show (Tuesday 18 to Thursday 20 August), and political comedy fans will delight in West End hit I’m Sorry, Prime Minister (Tuesday 16 to Saturday 20 June 2026). From the BAFTA award-winning co-creator of Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, Jonathan Lynn, comes the long-awaited final chapter of the British political satire and it is as cunning, cutting, and catastrophically funny as ever. Jim Hacker is back – older, but perhaps not wiser, and still utterly baffled by the real world. Brimming with razor-sharp wit, nostalgic brilliance, and more double-speak than a press briefing, this is political comedy at its most timeless – and timely. Book now for a night of laughter, legacy, and one last glorious round of red tape.
Tickets for all the above shows (and more!) are available to book now for the Marlowe Theatre Friends, they will go on general sale from Monday 24 November. To see all shows coming up at the Marlowe Theatre visit marlowetheatre.com
