The Barbican has announced a bold and international Theatre & Dance line-up for Autumn–Winter 2025, featuring UK premieres, radical new work, and sensory experiences for the youngest audiences. The season, running from September to December, showcases the Barbican’s commitment to groundbreaking multidisciplinary performance, with artists from Europe, Australia and beyond.
Two major UK premieres will open the season in the Barbican Theatre. Acclaimed French-Vietnamese director Caroline Guiela Nguyen makes her UK debut with LACRIMA (25–27 Sep), a sweeping, multilingual drama that lifts the veil on the hidden costs of the luxury fashion world. Performed in four languages—including French Sign Language—and blending cinematic visuals with live performance, LACRIMA promises to be a haunting and visually arresting experience.
From 2–5 October, Polish director Lukasz Twarkowski returns to London with ROHTKO, a four-hour sensory journey exploring art, forgery and authenticity. Mixing live cinema, techno, and multimedia spectacle, this epic work dissects the legacy of abstract artist Mark Rothko through a contemporary lens of NFTs and philosophical inquiry.
Dance Umbrella partners with the Barbican again this October, introducing audiences to Change Tempo (8–9 Oct), a daring double bill from Australia’s Lilian Steiner and Spain’s María del Mar Suárez (La Chachi). Meanwhile, Gesualdo Passione (16 Oct) in the Barbican Hall pairs a cappella vocals with modern choreography to breathe new life into 17th-century madrigals.
The Pit will transform into a home for subversive storytelling and experimental formats. Highlights include the world premiere of KISS WITNESS’ Prayers for a Hungry Ghost (29 Oct – 1 Nov), a darkly comic, horror-infused exploration of family, mythology, and inherited trauma, and Subverse (12–15 Nov), a powerful new edition of CN Lester’s celebrated Transpose Pit Party featuring boundary-breaking trans artists.
Rounding out the season, Catalan company Engruna Teatre presents Univers (3–13 Dec), an immersive, sensory performance for children under two, inviting London’s littlest theatregoers on a cosmic journey through touch, sound and movement.
Tickets go on general sale Saturday 10 May at 10am.
Full programme and booking details at barbican.org.uk.
