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

an ai image of the view of the park overlooking the crowds and stage

(Image credit: Regent's Park Open Air Theatre)

It’s been a hell of a week for London theatre, with The Globe and The National Theatre releasing their 2026 programmes, with names like Cate Blanchett and Sandra Oh lighting up local London stages across the West End. Now, The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is getting in on the action.

Often considered London’s prettiest theatre, this summer, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is set to host a series of big hitters from musicals to Shakespeare. Last summer, it was confirmed that the theatre would host the first-ever UK revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, which will be showing under stars from July 25th until September 12th. Whilst this performance is definitely still the main headliner of the season, there are still plenty of cracking productions on show if you're not so much a feline fanatic.

In May, the OAT will be running a production of a new play by Joel Horwood called Sherlock Holmes. Running from May 2nd to June 6th it’s a stage thriller based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s timeless detective. We don’t know the plot yet, although it seems it will be an origin-style story about Sherlock and Watson in their early days, pre-career glory, as they struggle to solve their first case.

Next up is possibly the most exciting entry on the slate: a reimagined dance production of Vivaldi’s masterpiece A Life in Four Seasons. Three Friends, one life, four seasons; three friends spring across a vibrant city, life is new, exciting and undiscovered. As summer speeds towards them, they grasp the metropolis and push, push, push through to autumn. What will be discovered and what will life bring as they reach the depths of winter? The official synopsis reads. It has been created by Associate Artistic director Tinuke Craig with choreography by Alexzandra Sarmiento, and award-winning composer DJ Walde having penned an original musical score. A bit of something for everyone, this might be the most interesting watch of the year (11th June-14th June).

Back to the classics, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is up next from 20th June - 18th July, in what is described as a ‘blissful new production’ by Atri Banerjee, underscored by folk-inspired melodies by Maimuna Memon. If you’re going to see this Shakespearean classic at all, watching it in the beautiful, green grounds of OAT in the middle of summer seems sort of fitting.

The final entry on the programme is Anasi the Spider, a collection of West African and Caribbean folk tales about the mischievous spider who triumphs over larger foes. The production heads to the OAT after a sold-out run at the Unicorn Theatre in 2023 and 2025, and it promises to be an uplifting family-friendly watch. Tickets for this production and Cats are both already on sale.

Tickets for the majority of the show are set to go on sale on Thursday, 5th February, with all tickets starting at £15. There are also BSL, captioned, and audio-described performances running throughout the season, and you can head to the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre website for all the information.

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Hermione Blandford is the Content Editor for Shortlist’s social media which means you can usually find her scrolling through Instagram and calling it work, or stopping random people in the street and accosting them with a mini mic. She has previously worked in food and drink PR for brands including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Gordon's, The Singleton, Lagavulin and Don Julio which means she is a self confessed expert in spicy margaritas and pints, regularly popping into the pub in the name of research.

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