Spring / Summer Shows Revealed - Exeter Northcott Theatre

Exeter Northcott Theatre Spring / Summer 2024 announcement artwork. Pink background. A yellow paint stroke descends diagonally across the pink background from left to right. In the centre of the artwork, a spiral paintbrush strokes, spiralling out from the centre. In the top left-hand side of the artwork, paintbrush strokes in the shape of an arrow pointing towards the bottom right-hand corner of the artwork. Inside the spiral paintbrush stroke, images of people performing and artwork from shows being performed at Exeter Northcott Theatre and the Barnfield Theatre between January and June 2024.

We’ve announced over 100 exciting new events at our Northcott and city centre Barnfield theatres from January until June 2024, including:

• Musical extravaganzas: smash-hit parody Unfortunate and Windrush celebration RUSH: A Joyous Jamaican Journey.
• Laughs for all: must-see comedies The Time Machine and The Importance of Being… Earnest? and stand-up from Georgie Carroll and Romesh Ranganathan.
• Social justice spotlights: Women’s History Month brings powerful stories Protest and WANTED!
• Family entertainment: Belongings, a moving journey of self-discovery, and monster mayhem in Dragons and Mythical Beasts.
• Insightful talks from Ben Fogle and Simon Reeve.
• Exclusive dance offers: big savings for a boundary-pushing season of dance.

Check Out What’s On Browse New Season Brochure

Season Highlights

Thought-provoking theatre and new takes on timeless tales

We launch our new theatre season with Chris Thorpe’s (Talking About the Fire) compelling nuclear disarmament drama A Family Business (1 – 2 Feb, Barnfield). Legendary Welsh storyteller Shôn Dale-Jones (The Wonderful World of Hugh Hughes) then searches for human connection in dark comedy Cracking (9 – 10 Feb, Barnfield), and ThickSkin (How Not To Drown) challenge consumer culture in Peak Stuff (27 – 28 Feb, Northcott).

During Women’s History Month in March, three schoolgirls stand up to social norms and inspire change in Hannah Lavery’s (Lament for Sheku Bayoh) Protest (11 Mar, Barnfield). Then, Gazebo Theatre weave history, heart and humour to explore the extraordinary stories of five trailblazing women in WANTED! (19 – 20 Mar, Northcott).

March also brings Miracle Theatre’s comical Cornish whodunnit, Hells Bells (21 – 22 Mar, Northcott), while April audiences can unravel Agatha Christie’s iconic murder mystery The Mousetrap (15 – 20 Apr, Northcott) during its 70th-anniversary UK tour.

We’re also hosting a laughter-packed line-up of classic stories with modern twists. Original Theatre (Murder in the Dark) reimagine H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine (5 – 8 Feb, Northcott) with chaos, wit, and a sprinkle of Cher. Say It Again, Sorry? (Easel Peasel) tease Wildean charm with play-within-a-play The Importance of Being… Earnest? (14 – 16 Mar, Northcott). New Old Friends (Crimes on Centre Court) spellbind audiences with Houdini’s Greatest Escape (14 – 16 May, Northcott), a side-splitting thriller in the spirit of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps.

Moving on to musicals, critically acclaimed Little Mermaid parody Unfortunate (4 – 8 Jun, Northcott) surfaces at the Northcott in summer. The wickedly fresh spin on the ‘real story’ beneath the waves stars Shawna Hamic (Orange is the New Black, Netflix) as Ursula and River Medway (RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, BBC) as Ariel.

John Simmit’s (Upfront Comedy) musical Windrush celebration RUSH: A Joyous Jamaican Journey (15 Jun, Northcott) rounds out Exeter Northcott’s new theatre season.

Homegrown talents at the Barnfield

The Barnfield continues to elevate South West artists, enabling them to showcase new and vital works.

Devon’s Stowaway Theatre pay homage to Britain’s first female crime syndicate in roaring 20s musical crime caper 40 Elephants (22 – 24 Feb, Barnfield). Stowaway developed this production during its participation in our Futures programme in 2022.

Later, Scratchworks (The Grimm Sisters) return to the Barnfield with locally inspired witch-comedy Hags: A Magical Extravaganza (17 – 18 May, Barnfield). The South West theatre company unearth stories of the last three women accused of witchcraft in the UK, put on trial in Exeter over 300 years ago, through live magic and music.

Fun for all ages

Families are treated to everything from a celebration of a legendary children’s TV icon to mind-blowing monster puppetry.

Sooty celebrates a lifetime of magic, mischief, and mayhem in The Sooty Show 75th Birthday Spectacular (12 Feb, Northcott).

All ages can find the perfect pet in Rod Campbell’s Dear Zoo (1 – 2 Apr, Northcott) and discover the joy of play in Tangled Feet (Butterflies) and Rowan Tree’s Belongings (3 – 4 Apr, Northcott).

Approaching summer, a musical stage adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s beloved Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book (10 – 12 May, Northcott) and epic half-term encounters with earth-shattering puppets in Olivier Award-nominated Dragons and Mythical Beasts (28 – 30 May, Northcott).

Dance odyssey

Audiences can embark on a rhythmic adventure with our multi-buy ticket offer for dance events: book tickets for two eligible events and enjoy a 10% discount. Adding more events increases this discount.

We open ournew dance season with Motionhouse’s digital magic-infused Nobody (5 – 6 Mar, Northcott). Then, Graziano Di Prima charts his journey from Sicilian vineyards to Strictly Come Dancing stardom in Believe (9 Mar, Northcott) and Ockham’s Razor transforms Thomas Hardy’s Tess (11 – 12 Mar, Northcott) into a feminist circus spectacle.

In May, Dani Harris-Walters sketches a reflective coming-of-age story through hip-hop dance in Happy Father’s Day (8 May, Northcott). Shechter II explore the tensions of English identity in From England with Love (11 – 12 May, Northcott). Ballet Cymru stage a daring adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo a Juliet (25 – 26 May, Northcott), and KVN Dance Company magically reimagine Coppelia (29 May, Northcott).

Closing our new dance season, Rendez-Vous Dance tell the untold story of a 1930s Parisian lesbian cabaret with flirtation and flair in The Monocle (26 Jun, Northcott).

Also coming up this season

English Touring Opera return to the Northcott with radical and inventive re-interpretations of Giacomo Puccini’s Manon Lescaut (23 – 25 May, Northcott) and Igor Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress (24 May, Northcott).

Hilarious nights out await Exeter stand-up comedy fans from Adam Rowe (20 January, Barnfield), Romesh Ranganathan (23 Jan, Great Hall), Babatunde Aléshé (28 Jan, Northcott), Gail Porter (3 Feb, Northcott), Janey Godley (9 Feb, Northcott), Frankie Boyle (10 Feb, Great Hall), Jimeoin (14 Feb, Northcott), Miles Jupp (21 Feb, Northcott), Melanie Bracewell (22 Feb, Barnfield), Troy Hawke (23 Feb, Northcott), Count Arthur Strong (25 Feb, Northcott), Scott Bennett (28 Feb, Barnfield), Tom Allen (8 Mar, Great Hall), Dom Joly (8 Mar, Northcott), Joe Wells (9 Mar, Barnfield), Tim Vine (23 Mar, Northcott), Lloyd Griffith (30 Mar, Northcott), Georgie Carroll (5 May, Northcott) and Michelle Brasier (31 May, Northcott).

We’re also turning back time with a celebratory live music journey through the decades with The Magic of Motown (13 Jan, Northcott), A Century of Swing (27 Jan, Barnfield), Guitar Heroes (31 Jan, Northcott), The Marvin Gaye Songbook (16 Feb, Northcott), 90s Live (24 Feb, Northcott), Nashville at Heart (27 Feb, Barnfield), Fastlove (6 Apr, Northcott), Dracula in Space (19 Apr, Barnfield), Sweet Caroline (27 Apr, Northcott), The Magic of the Bee Gees (17 May, Northcott) and Get It On (1 Jun, Northcott).

Plus, engaging talks from Antiques Roadshow’s Charlie Ross, Christina Trevanion and Philip Serrell (30 Jan, Northcott), free solo climber Pete Whittaker (14 Feb, Barnfield), TV survivalist Ben Fogle (12 Mar, Great Hall), Post Office scandal journalist Nick Wallis (20 Apr, Barnfield), adventurer Simon Reeve (26 Apr, Great Hall) and astronomer Adrian West with his stratospherically successful The Night Sky Show (28 Apr, Northcott).