The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre has announced its 2026 summer season

The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre has just announced its 2026 season – or most of it, anyway.

The caveat is that we actually already knew what the biggest show was already: OAT boss Drew McOnie’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats (Jul 25-Sep 12) – the first ever UK revival – was such a big deal that it was announced last year. It remains the centrepiece of the season, running in the ‘main’ height-of-summer slot that’s always taken by a big musical.

But there’s plenty more besides, with the season getting underway in May with Joel Horwood’s new play Sherlock Holmes (May 2-Jun 6). No conceptual gimmicks here: it’s a stage thriller based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s timeless detective. The exact plot is somewhat vague but sounds like an origin story of sorts, following and early career Sherlock and Watson as they struggle to move on from their first case until they suddenly find themselves embroiled in a deadly conspiracy. Sean Holmes directs a cast that will be headed by Joshua James as Sherlock.

Next up, and as with his first season, McOnie will get back to his roots by programming a short run dance show, this year A Life In Four Seasons (Jun 11-14). The new work is created by OAT associate director Tinuke Craig and choreographed by Alexzandra Sarmiento, and is a dance piece about three friends negotiating love and loss in the city of London, set to an electric version of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.

RECOMMENDED: The 10 best new London theatre openings in February 2026.

Back in the day (it’s been open almost a century) the OAT used to be a Shakespeare-only theatre, and while there was none in McOnie’s debut season, his second will see a production of good old A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Jun 20-Jul 18), which will indeed run over midsummer. There’s not a huge steer as to what direction Atri Banerjee’s production will take, but we’re promised it will be ‘blissful’.

Finally, running concurrently to Cats in the daytime will be Justin Audibert’s very fun West African myth-infused Anansi the Spider (Aug 15-Sep 6), which returns to the OAT lawn after a 2021 run.

The 2026 Regent’s Park Open Air season will go on sale on Feb 5 at noon, except for Cats which is already on sale 

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

Plus: Shakespeare’s Globe has announced its 2026 summer season.

Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel.