Exclusive: Shakespeare’s Globe indoor winter season 2026/27

This long, hot summer is only just getting started. However, end it will – and we have proof in the form of an exclusive announcement for one of London’s most prestigious winter theatre seasons. 

Between October and March the outdoor theatre at Shakespeare’s Globe shuts and the indoor Sam Wanamaker Playhouse opens for four shows of intimate, candlelit work. The programming has changed quite a lot over the years – it used to have a no-Shakespeare policy, which was obviously nuts – but under artistic director Michelle Terry it’s largely settled down to a four-show season comprising two Shakespeare plays, one classic play by somebody else, and one new play.

That’s exactly what we’re getting this year, with the season kicking off with one of Shakespeare’s most beloved history plays, the always timely story of democracy under attack Julius Caesar (Nov 6-Feb 14 2027). It’ll be directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins, who made his name at the Young Vic with a series of marvellously provocative takes on classic works including a version of Measure for Measure that had a set entirely made of sex dolls.

Previous announced, veteran Brit playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker’s The Animals Come to the Table (Dec 11-Jan 24 2027) was originally submitted anonymously in shorter form for the Globe’s anonymous Burnt at the Stake festival in 2022. Now we get the full version of this surreal drama in which animals put humanity on trial.

Another all time classic follows arrives the new year in the form of Chekhov’s The Seagull (Jan 15-Apr 10 2027), in a production that will reunite adaptor Rory Mullarkey and director Caroline Steinbeis, the team behind 2025’s excellent Wanamaker take on the great Russian playwright’s Three Sisters (pictured above).

The last show in the season is a proper Shakespeare deep cut in the form of King John (Feb 20-Apr 11 2027), which the Globe has performed precisely once (in the modern era anyway), outdoors in 2015. The pageantry heavy history play about the life, death and tortured political manoeuvrings of medieval monarch John – who is best remembered for being forced to agree to abide by the law by signing Magna Carta – will make its Wanamaker debut at the hands of leftfield director Jaz Woodcock-Smith, who also makes her Globe debut.

There’s no word on any casting at all yet, although it wouldn’t be a shock if Globe boss Michelle Terry popped up in something or other.

And if that all sounds too warm for you, then as previously announced, last year’s festive musical Pinocchio will be returning for an *outdoor* winter run over the hols (Nov 28-Jan 3 2027)

The Shakespeare’s Globe indoor winter season 2026-27

• Julius Caesar (Nov 6-Feb 14 2027)
• Pinocchio (Nov 28-Jan 3 2027)
• The Animals Come to the Table (Dec 11-Jan 24 2027)

• The Seagull (Jan 15-Apr 10 2027)

• King John (Feb 20-Apr 11 2027)

The Shakespeare’s Globe indoor winter season will go on sale to the general public on July 14 at 10am. 

The best new London theatre shows to book for in 2026.

Plus: James Norton will play Hamlet in the West End.

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