King’s Head Theater announces 2025 season, including three musical premieres

The King’s Head Theater has revealed its spring 2025 season, the second at the newly created Islington Square venue.

The season runs from January to August, with three new full-length musicals and four new plays.

It opens with fire birdwritten by Richard Hough and directed by Owen Lewis, which runs from January 9th to February 9th. The production, based on the memoir Firebird: The Story of Roman by Sergey Fetisov, tells the story of a clandestine affair between a soldier and a fighter pilot in Soviet-occupied Estonia during the Cold War. The play has already been adapted into a film which premiered at the BFI Flare festival.

The theater will then present Parado: a new musicalfrom February 13th to March 23rd. Written by Liesl Wilke and Andy Marsh, the musical is set in a women’s bathroom in Seattle, where a group of strangers, including a mother, a neurodivergent daughter, a non-binary poet, and a queer computer scientist, navigate the complexities of life. modern.

From March 26 to April 27, former artistic director Hannah Price will make her directorial debut in the new space with (This is not a) Happy Rooma dark comedy by Rosie Day. The play follows a family gathering for a wedding, which quickly turns into a funeral after a car accident. The production is Day’s second play, following his run in the West End Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon.

Running in repertoire with (This is not a) Happy Room and Puppyby Naomi Westerman, April 1-27. Directed by Kayla Feldman, the play follows two women who created a feminist adult material company and find themselves fighting legislation that aims to restrict female sexual expression.

The program continues with The Gang of Threea new political drama from Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky, running from April 30 to June 1. Set in the mid-1970s, the play explores the rivalry between Labor Party politicians Roy Jenkins, Denis Healey and Tony Crosland, following the resignation of Harold Wilson as Prime Minister. The production is directed by Kirsty Patrick Ward.

The second musical of the season King of Pangearuns from June 7th to July 6th. Written by Martin Storrow, the story follows Christopher Crow as he retreats to an imaginary island after the death of his mother. Directed by Richard Israel, the production was originally presented at the National Alliance for Musical Theater’s Festival of New Musicals.

The last musical on the program is The rooftop showwhich runs from July 11th to August 16th. Written by Tom Ford with music and lyrics by Alex Syiek, the show is set in Boise, Idaho, in the 1950s, and examines a wave of moral panic and its effects on the local queer community. The production marks the musical’s European debut, having premiered in Boise in 2022.

In addition to productions, the theater is introducing new schemes to promote affordable access, including memberships for under-35s, N1 residents and theater artists.

Exclusive advance tickets are available for £20 (off-peak times) or £25 (peak times) for bookings made before 30th November.

Executive producer and interim CEO Sofi Berenger said: “Less than a year into the new theater, it’s incredible to be able to announce this season of work and present not one, but three new full-length musicals. Stopped, King of Pangea and The Show on the Roof, which will mark our first major musical productions in the new theater; and four new pieces.

“I’m especially excited because 50% of our season was written, directed and produced by female or non-binary creatives, and we continue to have predominantly LGBTQ+ work on our stages. This includes fire bird and a repertoire of two new plays by writers, directors and producers presenting Puppy playing at Lesbian Visibility Week and our former artistic director Hannah Price making her debut on our new stage with (This is not a) Happy Room. And finally, with the return of the Labor government after 14 years, we end the season with The Gang of Three. But I can assure you that’s not all we’re working on and there are more exciting casting and announcements to come.”