A New Season of Theatre for 2025 Announced at Macready Theatre Rugby

Norvil and Josephine present rabbits out of the hat. Photo courtesy of Macready Theatre.

Macready Theatre, a prominent 233-seat venue nestled in the heart of Rugby town, have announced their exciting new season for 2025. Bursting with Comedy, Family Performances, New Writing, Magic Shows and Live Music, Macready Theatre continue to bring diverse programming of professional touring work to our doorstep.

Highlights of the new season include a sell-out, five-star Edinburgh Festival show Why I Stuck a Flare up My A**e for England before it transfers to world-famous Adelaide Fringe, after winning the Holden Street Theatre award. This blisteringly funny new play asks what it means to be a "die-hard" football fan and explores themes of belonging, tribalism, and toxic masculinity. “This performance surprised me,” said Amie Johnson, Manager and Programmer at Macready Theatre. “I went into this without any more knowledge than the gripping title and a recommendation. It was the best show I saw at this year’s Fringe – gripping, funny, shocking and surprisingly moving. If you’re going to book one show this season, make it this one!” 

Families who enjoyed performances this year at Macready Theatre from TeachRex, will be excited to see Recent Cutbacks’ Hold On To Your Butts in the programme for February. This critically acclaimed, sold out comedy from New York is a must-see shot-for-shot parody of the greatest dinosaur film of all time. Combining comedy, Foley sound and physical theatre the company presents a wildly inventive twist on a box office hit.

For fans of live music, Macready Theatre are delighted to introduce this new string to their bow, building on the success of their Pizza and Jazz nights. Featuring the incredible Red Priest in March with their popular take on baroque favourites and the comedy string quartet Graffiti Classics. Dance will also feature in this exciting new programme, with a visit from Kathak dance company Sonia Sabri Company performing their award-winning show Roshni, accompanied by live tabla, clarinet, flute, guitar and oud.

Hold On To Your Butts. Photo courtesy of Macready Theatre.

“I am delighted to introduce this season’s programme to you,” said Tim Coker, Artistic Director at Macready Theatre. “Whether it is your first time visiting our lovely theatre or you are a returning regular, we welcome you with a warm smile from our fabulous Front of House team, and the promise of seeing some of the best touring professional theatre in the country alongside some incredible student work from young actors from Youth Theatres and Schools across the region.” 

This season’s programme is not all that has been announced recently. Macready Theatre is renowned for its dedication to inspire future generations of artists, creatives and audiences. As part of this ongoing commitment, a new initiative has been launched. Alongside the Theatre’s outreach offer to allocate one-third of its seats during term time for free to local school groups, Kids4Free is a new proposal to give children and young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds even more opportunities to be inspired by live professional theatre, right here in Rugby.

By giving visitors to Macready Theatre the chance to ‘buy ahead’ the cost of a child’s ticket for any of their public professional programme, they hope to make more than 2,000 FREE tickets available each year to children who otherwise might not have the chance to see live theatre. If you would like to support them in this important work, or to find out more, please visit www.macreadytheatre.co.uk/kids4free