Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre reveals 2026 season

The season opens with the world premiere of Sherlock Holmes, a new mystery by Joel Horwood, directed by Sean Holmes and starring Joshua James in the title role.

Summary

• Regent's Park Open Air Theatre has revealed Drew McOnie's second season as artistic director
• The season opens with Joel Horwood's new mystery Sherlock Holmes
• Shakespeare returns to the park with A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Regent's Park's big summer musical is Cats

Drew McOnie has announced his second season as artistic director at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.

The season opens with the world premiere of Sherlock Holmes, a new mystery by Joel Horwood. Directed by Sean Holmes, the show will star Joshua James (Cyrano) in the title role as Holmes and Watson begin another chase, this time focused on an unknown woman and a mysterious jewel that arrive at 221b Baker Street. Performances run from 2 May – 6 June.

Vivaldi’s masterpiece In a Life in Four Seasons is reimagined in a new contemporary dance work created by Tinuke Craig, with choreography by Alexzandra Sarmiento. The show will also feature a recorded musical score by composer DJ Walde, with performances running from 11–14 June.

This is followed by the return of Shakespeare's magical comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream (running from 20 June – 18 July), in a new production directed by Atri Banerjee and composed by Maimuna Memon (Manic Street Creature).

The previously announced production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats will run from 25 July – 12 September, and is directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie. The rest of the creative team includes Set, Costume and Wigs Designer Sami Fendall, Sound Designer Adam Fisher, Lighting Designer Jessica Hung Han Yun, Makeup Designer and Supervisor Guy Common, and Musical Supervisor Alex Parker.

Regent's Park's children's show will be Anansi the Spider by Justin Audibert, directed by Robin Belfield, and will play on the Theatre Lawn in a Unicorn Theatre and Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production. The show will focus on classic West African and Caribbean folk tales about the mischievous spider.

Drew McOnie, Artistic Director, said: “I’m hugely excited to announce the full 2026 season and to share the brilliant shows that will be joining our new production of CATS this summer. I can’t wait to work with these talented creative teams and see their visions come to life on our beautiful open air theatre stage. I’m also immensely proud of our inaugural season of artist development programmes and thrilled that these initiatives will continue for a second year, providing support and platforms for early-career creatives across a variety of disciplines.”

Further creative teams and casting for all productions is to be announced.

Check back for Regent's Park Open Air tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Sherlock Holmes artwork. (Courtesy of Feast)