We’re celebrating 50 years of Salisbury Playhouse with our biggest season in years, packed with musicals, thrillers, comedy and inspiring true stories.

The season opens in February with Rock & Roll Man, an electrifying musical about the DJ who coined the term “rock & roll”. Featuring hits from Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis, Salisbury audiences will be the first in the UK to see it before a national tour.

Gareth Machin, the Artistic Director of Wiltshire Creative, said: "Rock & Roll Man is the perfect start to the season, filled with the vibrant songs, dancing and costumes one might expect from a rock and roll musical. Audiences often tell us they want musicals, so we’re delighted to deliver this spring. Following a hugely successful New York run, we are working with the American producers and Julian Bird of Green Room Entertainments to bring this brilliant show to Europe. We are delighted to be making it here in Salisbury, where local audiences will be the first in the UK to see it before it heads on to Poole, Windsor and Cambridge."

Alongside home-produced work, the spring season will feature visiting shows from some of the most respected theatre producers in the country.

Other highlights include:

• Murder at Midnight – a comic thriller from Original Theatre starring Jason Durr (Heartbeat, Casualty), Susie Blake (Victoria Wood’s As Seen on TV, Coronation Street) and Katie McGlynn (Waterloo Road, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks).

• The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) - A worldwide comic phenomenon returns featuring a romp through all 37 of the Bard’s plays

• The Beekeeper of Aleppo – a compassionate and beautiful play adapted from the international bestseller by Christy Lefteri.

• Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts and The Talented Mr Ripley – two gripping crime dramas for fans of literature, stage and screen

• Spitfire Girls– celebrating the extraordinary true stories of the women who dared to fly during WWII.

Also announced today is the opening event of Salisbury International Arts Festival 2026: a bold, immersive new production of Romeo and Juliet (24 May – 7 June), bringing Shakespeare’s timeless tale to life in and around Salisbury Playhouse. A professional cast and community ensemble will take audiences into the Montague vs Capulet battleground in this gritty and immersive walkabout production. It promises an eye-opening adventure through the 50-year-old Playhouse building and surrounding outdoor spaces.

Gareth Machin continued: "Following the success of The Tempest in 2023, we wanted to bring people together to be part of something creative and enriching. With every new production, Romeo and Juliet takes on new life and opens up Shakespeare to new audiences. This production weaves in music and parkour to excite younger audiences, as well as regular theatregoers. In January we’ll be holding a Discovery Day where we welcome people to come and find out how they can take part in this major production."

Family shows include Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Really Big Adventure at Salisbury Arts Centre in February and Stories in the Dust in the Salberg in May.

The spring theatre season goes on sale to supporters on Wednesday 24 September and to the public on Friday 26 September.