WHAT'S ON UPSTAIRS AT THE GATEHOUSE
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27 - 30 May 2026
Play - Comedy
Production by:
Giggle Riot
NIGHT LIGHT
A Comedy Play by Tom Chandler and Maeve O'Haire
Giggle Riot are back alongside Poynter Productions for their second run at Upstairs at the Gatehouse with the comedy play Night Light by OFFIE-nominated writers Tom Chandler and Maeve O'Haire.
A 1-hour, three-act, fast-paced conversational comedy. Three children in their mid-20s are putting off growing up — until they're forced to let go of each other's hands and pass on the night light.
Our Irish duo Robyn and Rian take on the harsh realities of living in central London, Randy attempts to write his way out of his situation, and Laura tries to teach them all that there is more to life than
4 - 28 Jun 2026
Musical
Production by:
Tanya Truman Productions & Chromolume
HOW TO MAKE A MESS
A Mouth-Watering New Musical by Emily Rose Simons
When Anna’s estranged mother dies, she skips sitting shiva and immerses herself in NIGELLA LAWSON’s seminal cookbook How To Eat, somehow summoning an imagined Nigella as her guide.
Folding together heartache and humour, Anna rediscovers the joys of living, learning, and - most importantly - eating, one recipe at a time.
HOW TO MAKE A MESS is a delicious celebration of feeding yourself in every sense, through the exploration of recipes and the stories they hold. With a score that blends classic Broadway warmth with quirky, contemporary storytelling, this freshly-baked new musical serves up a bittersweet helping of grief, joy, and the question of what we leave behind.
Book, Music, & Lyrics: Emily Rose Simons
Director: Grace Taylor
Running Time: 2 hours (including interval) | Age Guidance: 12+
14 Jun 2026
Talk
Production by:
Highgate Festival
AN ACTOR'S LAMENT
Well-known local actor, Harry Meacher, entertains with tales from his life and long career - from being nearly thrown out of RADA, and then winning their top prize, through working with Laurence Olivier, to probably the most hilariously bad production of Hamlet ever! This show will be a rare insight into the highs and lows of an actor's life, with many unexpected anecdotes on its merry way.
Starring: Harry Meacher
Director: Judi Bowker
That’s Why Mums Go to Switzerland
3 - 5 Jul 2026
Play
Production by:
Clothes Line Productions
THAT'S WHY MUMS GO TO SWITZERLAND
From the mind, and true lived experience, of Bonnie Oddie, That's Why Mums Go to Switzerland (Winner: Best Solo Show at Riverside Studios Bitesize Festival) is a blazing, darkly comic new play. This one-woman show steps into an exploration of assisted dying within modern family dynamics, with wit and disarming warmth.
Told through the eyes of a middle-aged woman stuck between the generation above her, her daughters below her, and a family in chaos. We follow a relationship breakdown, teenage upheaval, dependency, love (“whatever that is”), a mother openly preparing for the end, and the joys of becoming "a bad mother and a bad daughter at exactly the same time".
And of course, the dog. Who knew everything. Because dogs always know everything. As the UK grapples with some of its most important conversations about assisted dying, this play is willing to sit in the conflict.
Directed by Steve Medlin (Artistic Director of Collage Arts), Produced by Elsa Pahl (Paratroopers, You Me Bum Bum Train, The Lion the Witch and the Westway) and Executive Produced by Michelle Toth (founder of True Story London), this production is what conversation actually looks like - complex, messy, razor-sharp and heart-wrenching. It’s unmissable.
“Truly life - and death - affirming”
- Polly Vernon
Pride and Prejudice in Words and Music
12 Jul 2026
Categories:
Play with Music
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE IN WORDS AND MUSIC
After sold-out performances at the 2025 Bath Jane Austen and Chawton Pride and Prejudice Festivals, the Cohen-Wingfield Duo — creators of the acclaimed Einstein's Violin — bring Pride and Prejudice in Words and Music to Upstairs at the Gatehouse for one night only.
Gill Hornby's witty and dynamic abridged version of Jane Austen's celebrated novel is combined with music for violin and piano, reworked by Carl Davis from his iconic score for the beloved 1995 BBC TV adaptation starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.
"A delight from start to finish"
Darling, I Think I'm Turning Into A Chicken
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14 - 26 Jul 2026
Play
Production by:
Butterfly Eye Productions
DARLING, I THINK I'M TURING INTO A CHICKEN
Butterfly Eye Productions’ new totally absurd and slightly horrific Extravaganza comes to Upstairs at the Gatehouse for its premiere run this July. An imaginative, physical and text-led exploration of how illness is not only biological, but emotional, social and generational, asking what it takes to break cycles of inheritance—and whether healing is ever truly possible
Born out of lived experiences, darkly comedic play about generational trauma and transformation, Darling, I think I’m turning into a Chicken explores what happens when loss becomes the air a family breathes. Florence has everything she’s ever wanted: a fiancée, a thriving career, and a perfect home. But when she starts to grow feathers, her carefully constructed life begins to unravel. As the transformation worsens—and threatens to kill her—Florence discovers she’s not alone: her estranged family are changing too. To survive, she must confront the past she’s spent a lifetime avoiding.
Writer and Director: India Rose Olsen
Music and Lyrics:
Michael Fristot & Tess McLee
26 Jul 2026
Talk
Production by:
Ovation
Secrets of The Simpsons - Stories and Scandals from Springfield
An Evening with Mike Reiss.
Comedy producer Mike Reiss won four Emmys during his thirty-six years writing movie scripts, American TV shows and countless episodes of The Simpsons. ‘Entertainment Weekly’ called Season 4 of The Simpsons “the greatest season of the greatest show in history”.
Mike Reiss lectures regularly throughout the USA and onboard cruise ships including Cunard’s QM2. This Summer Mike makes his UK debut visiting London, Stockport, Birmingham and Brighton. His talk also features ‘The Science of Jokes’ and a Q&A when Mike answers the fans favourite question “Just how do The Simpsons always manage to predict the future “
‘Secrets of The Simpsons’ is a two-hour presentation including interval and the Q&A.
Tour information (not tickets): www.ovationuk.com
