Nadia Fall is delighted to announce her first season as Artistic Director and CEO of the Young Vic.
Running from September 2025 - July 2026 across the Main House and The Maria Studio the season features timely reimaginings of classic work, UK, European and World Premieres and creatively bold, inventive productions from internationally acclaimed theatre makers and exciting new voices.
As part of the Young Vic’s ongoing commitment to supporting the next generation of theatre makers, this season will see The JMK Award return to the Young Vic, offering an early career director the opportunity to direct a full-scale professional play in the Young Vic’s Maria Studio. Applications for the Award will open in autumn 2025.
Nadia Fall said: “Vivid stories are the key to this season. We have seven wildly different works across our Main House and The Maria Studio Theatre, which journey from the shady underbelly of the London suburbs to the chaos of Baghdad after the toppling of Saddam Hussein. We will time travel to Brooklyn in 1938 where fascism is on the rise in Europe, on to a residential care home for a tender and surprisingly joyful look at life in our winter years, before returning to the streets of our metropolis for an eerily modern tale involving misogyny within the MET Police.
Alongside the shows in our Main House, we are delighted to be cracking open our studio theatres this season for new forms and voices. Some of the most arresting theatre I have ever experienced was in The Maria and Clare spaces; productions which have stayed with me over the years. Studio theatres can conjure an immersive and potent connection with an audience, achieving a close up and unparalleled intimacy.
I can’t wait to share this work with our audience. It’s a season that invites us to hold a mirror up to ourselves and see the unflinching truth about who we really are. Behind closed doors, beyond curated online profiles, and painted smiles: it’s an interrogation of who we are, at our core.”
“I’m so excited to be directing Joe Orton’s audacious cult-classic Entertaining Mr Sloane. I was particularly drawn to the way Orton calls us all out, in a world where humankind is demonstrating a scarcity of both humanity and kindness. Orton's dark play pokes fun at our incessant dog eat dog nature and still remains downright shocking, sixty-two years after it was first written.”
“Ohio is autobiographical gig-theatre at its best, brought to us by the connoisseurs of platforming fresh talent Francesca Moody Productions. The piece sees real-life husband and wife The Bengsons tell their story of being raised in the church and then losing faith, it explores living with congenital hearing loss as a musician. The soulful folk music is woven with the storytelling. It’s a magical tonic of a show.”
“The European premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo is an adrenaline shot - a striking and imaginative commentary on war. With director Omar Elerian at the helm we have a dexterous navigator of the political and the poetic.”
“Museum of Austerity is the creation of master craftswoman Sacha Wares together with John Pring, Founder of Disability News Service. An installation that unlocks real-life testimonials from people who have lost disabled family members due to changes to the benefit system. The multitude of stories are triggered as audiences move around the space, it’s an emotional and necessary work.”
“Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass feels achingly prescient. Miller examines how world events, with the rise of hate and fascism, can infiltrate and impact our psyche, our relationships and our bodies. It’s a beautiful study of marriage and intimacy, of connection and the fractures between couples over time. Director Jordan Fein is an exciting talent and I can’t wait to see his modern take on this powerful play.”
“CARE from true auteur Alexander Zeldin is a finely drawn and disarmingly recognisable family portrait where a grandmother has no choice but to live in a care home. Care looks at ageing and life in a delicately, affecting yet uplifting way.”
“Sting is a riveting new play by Sophie Swithinbank which follows a young woman, Ash, who at first glance seems to be her own worst enemy. As the play unfolds, we see there are darker forces deliberately working to undo her. The story exposes a disturbing misogyny within the police force. Sophie is a young writer with a deliciously witty and disconcerting voice. Nancy Medina will be directing Sting and the partnership of these two women promises to be dynamite.”
Co-Chairs of the JMK award Emma Baggott & Derek Bond said:
“We are so delighted that the JMK is coming back to its spiritual home at the Young Vic, and we would like to thank the executive team for their support of emerging directors. In an increasingly risk-averse landscape, the JMK award can provide producers with the nudge they need to take a risk on emerging artists.”
Tickets for Entertaining Mr Sloane, Ohio, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, and Museum of Austerity go on sale to Soul Mates from 12 noon today, to Friends from 12noon on Friday 16 May and to the general public at 12 noon on Monday 19 May.
Broken Glass, CARE and Sting will go on sale to supporters and the general public in autumn 2025.
The Young Vic’s 2025/2026 Season is supported by the Season Circle.
