Ian McKellen to Play Lear at The Yard Theatre — and Tickets Start at £10 on Sale June 22nd

One of the great theatrical events of the season is about to go on sale — and, true to form for The Yard Theatre, it won’t cost you the earth. Sir Ian McKellen will play the title role in Lear, Shakespeare’s King Lear reimagined by playwright Simon Stephens and The Yard’s Artistic Director Jay Miller. The production runs 17 November 2026 to 2 January 2027 in the opening season of The Yard’s brand-new Hackney Wick building, with tickets starting at just £10.

Lear at The Yard Theatre. Credit: Guy J Sanders

It is a remarkable coup for a theatre that began life in 2011 as a warehouse with a six-month lease. McKellen, who has returned to King Lear more than once across his career, is characteristically direct about why he keeps going. “I mean, I’ve organised my life for good or bad, so that acting is the main thing I do,” he says. “So if I’m not acting, what’s the point?”

£10 to £90 — and that’s the deal at The Yard

Tickets for Lear run from £10 to £90, and the theatre is making a point of keeping it that way. As Executive Director Ashleigh Wheeler puts it, the venue could charge far more and still sell out — but won’t.

Tickets for Lear run from £10 to £90. We could charge more, and fill the place in a heartbeat. We’re not going to. That’s the deal at The Yard.
Ashleigh Wheeler, Executive Director

Every production at The Yard starts at £10 — whether it’s McKellen’s Lear or a debut play. There are £5 tickets on the door for under-27s through No Empty Seats, the venue’s scheme running since 2017, and premium tickets fund the cheapest ones. Four “Legend” seats — the best in the house — are held for every performance from £150, with the proceeds going straight back into new voices, school tickets and the work itself. Concessions are available for those 65+, under 27, unwaged, in education and with access needs, and companion tickets are free.

When to book

Booking opens by membership tier, and members book first. Yard Residents book from 12 noon on 18 June, followed by Yard Regulars from 12 noon on 19 June. General sale opens to the public from 12 noon on 22 June. Membership (the Yard Card) is free, but it’s limited and closing — the last day to join in time to book Lear is 16 June. Of every ticket that goes on sale, at least half is reserved for the general public. Press night is 1 December 2026.

The cast and creative team

Ian McKellen leads the cast, with further casting to be announced. The production is reimagined by Simon Stephens and Jay Miller, with set and costume design by Stewart Laing, sound by Josh Anio Grigg, lighting by Zerlina Hughes, video by Sarah Readman, choreography by Malik Nashad Sharpe and Sophia Golan as assistant director. It is generously supported by Cockayne – Grants for the Arts and the London Community Foundation.

The Yard Theatre’s new purpose-built venue in Hackney Wick, designed by Takero Shimazaki Architects

Six months became fifteen years

Lear arrives as The Yard opens its new home. The theatre was founded in 2011 when Jay Miller and fifty volunteers converted a Hackney Wick warehouse into a venue on a six-month lease. The lease ran out; The Yard didn’t. Since then it has become, in Time Out’s words, the most vital of all the new theatres to open in London this century — making and programming work at the borders of theatre, live art, cabaret, dance and drag, with shows that have transferred to the National Theatre, become BAFTA-winning television and won at the Olivier Awards.

The new purpose-built venue, designed by RIBA award-winning Takero Shimazaki Architects, is twice the size of the original. It’s built sustainably throughout — using reused brick from the old Yard and a six-storey natural ventilation chimney. Six months became fifteen years. Fifteen years became this.

Visiting

Lear runs from 17 November 2026 to 2 January 2027 at The Yard Theatre, Queen’s Yard, Hackney Wick, London E9 5EN. Tickets are £10 and up for everyone (£5 on the door for under-27s through No Empty Seats), on sale to members first and to the general public from 12 noon on 22 June. Full details and memberships are at theyardtheatre.co.uk/lear.