Hana Ichijo, Gabrielle Lewis-Dodson and Gracie McGonigal announced the nominations for the 26^th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards, the only major UK theatre prize-giving decided by the theatregoers themselves. The announcement of the nominations marks the opening of the final voting stage (until 22 January), with winners revealed at the annual awards ceremony held on 8 March 2026 at The London Palladium.

WhatsOnStage’s Darius Thompson and Alex Wood said: “UK theatre really has looked after the bear! It was no shock to see Paddington The Musical break the record for most nominations after the musical and technological marvel captured hearts and audiences after its Savoy Theatre debut.

“More broadly, we’re thrilled to see the awards reflecting a diverse geographic spread, with nominees being recognised in places like Dundee, Cirencester, Mold, and Sheffield. While the West End often captures the spotlight, the unwavering support from local communities for their shows is always heartwarming to witness – and much deserved!”

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Today, GRAMMY® Award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, and global visionary ROSALÍA announces her most extensive headlining tour to date — the LUX TOUR 2026, a sweeping 42-show arena run across 17 countries in support of her critically acclaimed new album LUX, out now via Columbia Records.

Produced by Live Nation, the LUX TOUR 2026 kicks off March 16 in Lyon, France at LDLC Arena, with performances across France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, before wrapping September 3 in San Juan at Coliseo de Puerto Rico.
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The trustees and chair of Stockroom, formerly Out of Joint, announce the theatre company’s formal closure. This follows the loss of its Arts Council of England National Portfolio status in April 2023.

The remaining assets of the company will be donated to the new writing touring theatre company Paines Plough, who will continue Stockroom’s work of supporting and championing new writing. The remaining royalties accrued from Stockroom’s past work are being transferred to The Writers Guild of Great Britain and their Writers Welfare Fund.

Mark Powell Chair of Stockroom says –

“After trialling a new writers room business model and exploring other partnerships, Stockroom’s outgoing trustees are confident that in Paines Plough & The Writers Guild of Great Britain we have found exemplars equally committed to writing and writers.  Both organisations share our common goal of nurturing the valuable creative talent that fuels the nations stages. Not every theatre company can live forever. Change is essential and healthy in the theatre sector to keep our practise and programmes vital. We know this pair of beneficiaries will take the spirit of Stockroom’s brief life into the future.”

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Multi-GRAMMY and BRIT Award-winning band Kings of Leon have announced a series of UK shows for 2026. The band will perform at Bellahouston Park, Glasgow on Friday 3rd July, Co-op Live, Manchester on Saturday 4th July, and First Direct Bank Arena, Leeds on Monday 6th July.

Recognized as one of the biggest alternative rock bands of the last 20 years, Kings of Leon have headlined the world’s most prestigious festivals including Coachella, Glastonbury, Roskilde and numerous Lollapaloozas in Berlin, Sao Paulo, Chicago and Santiago, to name but a few. Just last year, they also reclaimed their all-time attendance record with a fifth night at London’s massive Hyde Park venue.

Since their debut in 2003, Kings of Leon (Caleb (guitar/vocals), Nathan (drums), Jared (bass) and Matthew Followill (guitar)) have released nine albums – Youth & Young Manhood (2003), Aha Shake Heartbreak (2004), Because of the Times (2007), Only by the Night (2008), Come Around Sundown (2010), Mechanical Bull (2013), WALLS (2016), When You See Yourself (2021), Can We Please Have Fun (2024) – selling over 20 million albums and nearly 40 million singles worldwide.

Just last week, Kings of Leon dropped an EP with 4 new songs. Other recent releases include a ‘Live in Jersey’ single from Zach Bryan featuring Bruce Springsteen and Kings of Leon, covering the Springsteen classic “Atlantic City’, and, prior to that, a couple of new song collaborations with Zach Bryan.

Multi award-winning comedian Romesh is known for fronting hugely popular series The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, BAFTA-winning Rob & Romesh Vs, A League Of Their Own, Parent’s Evening, The Ranganation, and BBC One’s The Weakest Link. Romesh is the much-loved host of BBC Radio 2’s Saturday 10am – 1pm show. He also hosts several podcasts, his own, The Romesh Ranganathan Show, as well as For The Love Of Hip Hop (BBC Sounds/Radio 2), which won him the prestigious Radio Academy ARIA Gold award for Best Specialist Music Show in 2023. He is also the co-host of the critically acclaimed Wolf & Owl with Tom Davis.

A Sunday Times Bestseller with his autobiography Straight Outta Crawley: The Memoirs Of A Distinctly Average Human Being and Romesh’s second book As Good as It Gets: Life Lessons from a Reluctant Adult.2023 saw Romesh turn his hand at writing for a middle-grade audience in his debut novel, Lil’ Muffin Drops the Mic, which he followed up in 2025 with Yasmin Bandara Levels Up!

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Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Artistic Director, Alan Cumming has announced his highly anticipated inaugural season of exciting programming for 2026, which will coincide with the 75^th anniversary of the celebrated Scottish Highland Theatre.

The Season 2026 will feature a programme of creatively bold and inventive productions, featuring amongst others, world premières, Scottish and UK premières, revivals of musicals and plays, a visiting production and two exciting festivals.

Throughout the season, the theatre will welcome an incredible line up of Scottish, British and internationally renowned award–winning talent to the Scottish Highlands for what promises to be a theatrical highlight for Scotland in 2026.

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The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and Foyle Foundation joined by leading actors, launched the RSC Shakespeare Curriculum, a revolutionary new way of studying Shakespeare using the latest learning technology and innovation. 

The Shakespeare Curriculum is the most important development in the teaching of Shakespeare in a generation and will radically change how Shakespeare is studied and taught in secondary schools across the UK and around the world. It responds to ongoing concerns from teachers and young people about the way in which Shakespeare is experienced by many in school, with the aim for 80% of all UK secondary schools to use the Shakespeare Curriculum by the academic year 2029/30.

The first resource of its kind and free to use for all state and SEND secondary schools, it distils the RSC’s award-winning teaching approaches into a digital platform that has everything teachers and students need to teach and learn about Shakespeare, immersing them in the creative world of an RSC rehearsal room. Grounded in the techniques used by actors and directors, the Shakespeare Curriculum takes students beyond their desks, unlocking language, character and themes and fostering vital skills for school, life and work.  The RSC Shakespeare Curriculum has been created with major investment from the Foyle Foundation as one of the key projects recently announced for the long-term legacy of the foundation.

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The Old Vic is delighted to announce One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Dale Wasserman, based on the novel by Ken Kesey, starring Aaron Pierre (Rebel Ridge, Mufasa: The Lion King) as Randle P. McMurphy and Giles Terera (Hamilton, Othello) as Dale Harding. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, directed by Clint Dyer (Death of England, Othello), is at The Old Vic from 01 Apr–23 May 2026, with a press performance on Wed 15 Apr.

Director Clint Dyer said, ‘It feels such an honour, and the perfect time to place this wonderful play, based on the counterculture novel by Ken Kesey, back into the discourse. In directing this great play, I hope to hold more closely its original conversation on colonialism and identity from the novel, whilst maintaining its sense of mischief, anarchy and pathos.’

In Artistic Director Matthew Warchus’ final Season all productions will take place completely In The Round, forming an intimate seating configuration that surrounds the stage.

Matthew Warchus, Artistic Director of The Old Vic said, ‘I’m delighted to be welcoming the brilliant Clint Dyer to be a part of this In The Round Season at The Old Vic. We can’t wait to share his exciting new take on this iconic story.’

Tickets for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest go on sale to members on Wed 12 Nov at midday GMT and on general sale on Fri 14 Nov at midday.