The Donmar Warehouse has officially embarked on its fifth annual Schools’ Tour, hitting the road with HIDE, a gripping and darkly funny new play written by Royal Shakespeare Company Writer-in-Residence Stewart Pringle. The comprehensive touring production is scheduled to deliver 29 performances across 19 separate secondary educational institutions between June 15 and July 10, 2026.
Conceived as an innovative, contemporary reimagining of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the narrative is set within a failing secondary school on the brink of collapse. The plot follows three students waiting inside a dingy, forgotten classroom known as "the Tank" during a radical government initiative called the Hostile Youth Diffusion Experiment, where traditional rules are temporarily suspended. The production explores timely themes of personal lie-telling, social containment, and the psychological dualities of youth culture.
Directed by Jack Bradfield, winner of the RTST Peter Hall Director Award, the live ensemble cast features emerging talents Elios Douglas, Gia Imo, and Leo Shak, alongside the recorded voice of acclaimed stage and screen actor Paterson Joseph. To ensure structural relevance, the creative team developed the script in tandem with local teenagers and educators to mirror authentic contemporary student perspectives.
The initiative is offered completely free of charge to schools across the Camden and Westminster boroughs, specifically targeting Key Stage 3 students. Donmar Artistic Director Tim Sheader highlighted the tour as a vital post-pandemic intervention, introducing theatrical intimacy directly into school halls at a time when expressive arts subjects face severe systemic under-prioritization and GCSE Drama enrollment has plummeted nationwide.
Since its inaugural launch in 2021, the Donmar Schools’ Tour has reached nearly 12,000 young people, with organizers aiming to engage an additional 4,100 students throughout the current summer run. The massive community outreach program is made possible via headline partnership funding from Howdens, alongside support from the Dow Clewer Foundation and Westminster City Council.
