Battersea Arts Centre has unveiled its 2026 autumn-winter season, and it is characteristically unafraid: two world premieres, an immersive horror staged in the building’s own fire-scarred history, a week-long festival of magic, and takeovers of the iconic former town hall for both Halloween and Christmas.
Two world premieres
The season opens with NINA (6–24 October), a BAC production and the debut play from celebrated director Caroline Williams. Inspired by Chekhov’s The Seagull and co-directed with Deborah Pearson, it examines coercion, power and the quest for creative expression. Overlapping with it is Room 13 (16–31 October), a brand-new experiential horror from the director of Peaky Blinders: The Rise and Doctor Who: Time Fracture, which turns the remnants left behind by the devastating BAC fire of over a decade ago into the stuff of nightmare.
A Halloween takeover
For half term, The Dark by Peut-Être Theatre (27–31 October), adapted from the Lemony Snicket book, follows young Laszlo as he learns to meet and befriend the dark — an empowering family adventure for ages 4 and up. For grown-ups, Gothic Opera returns to the Grand Hall with the UK premiere of La Dame de Pique (29 October–1 November), a gritty staging of a society crumbling into grime, decay and dissolution.
Boundary-pushing theatre, and a festival of magic
Two shows push at the form itself. Good Sex (4–6 November), the UK premiere of a critically acclaimed New York production from Dublin’s Dead Centre and novelist Emilie Pine, asks how — and whether — you can stage sex at all: each night, two performers who have never met or read the script attempt an answer, joined by an intimacy director. A Song and Dance (17–21 November), from the endlessly inventive Action Hero, is an absurdist nightmare about masking, performing and “acting the part.”
In between, UNREAL: A Festival of Magic and Performance (7–14 November) gathers artists from across the UK and Europe working at the intersection of magic and performance for a week of, as the billing has it, unreal acts for uncertain times. It is curated by Tom Cassani, Augusto Corrieri and Tim Bromage.
“At Battersea Arts Centre, we’re committed to championing artists who push the boundaries of live performance and creating experiences audiences won’t find anywhere else. This season reflects that ambition, bringing together an extraordinary breadth of work.”
Tarek Iskander, Artistic Director and CEO, Battersea Arts Centre
Christmas at the town hall
The festive season brings Dear Santa (28 November–24 December), a live staging by Norwell Lapley Productions of Rod Campbell’s book — from the author of Dear Zoo — pitched as an ideal first trip to the theatre for ages two and up. And throughout December, Santa’s Grotto (4–24 December) returns, with Father Christmas making another scheduled stop in BAC’s magical building.
Battersea Arts Centre is at Lavender Hill, SW11. Full listings and tickets are at bac.org.uk. Nearest rail: Clapham Junction.
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