Announcing our 2026 Spring Performance Programme
Published January 19, 2026
A new season of stories awaits at Exeter Phoenix.
This spring, we welcome fresh talent, celebrate community and champion bold, original work by critically acclaimed, multi-disciplinary artists.
mapdance 2026 on Wed 25 Feb and JV2 on Tue 31 Mar see some of the best post-graduate dancers in the country start their journey in the industry, working with internationally renowned choreographers. Both events also showcase short curtain raiser performances by local students, inspiring the next generation of dance talent.
mapdance 2026 (Mike Bignell)
Bobak Champion's genre-defying new show, I'm Muslamic Don't Panik on Tue 03 Mar, features breakdancing, live saxophone performance, Iranian folk music, comedy and clowning.
Coming to Exeter Phoenix on Sat 21 Mar, hot from Edinburgh Fringe success, The City for Incurable Women by international theatre collective, fish in a dress, combines physical theatre, integrated audio description and storytelling to revive history through a queer-feminist lens.
Both events extend an invitation to engage with the work beyond the performances, including Bobak's post-show gathering encouraging friendly chats over tasty Persian tea and biscuits, and a pre-show Movement Makes Story workshop with fish in a dress's Berlin based director & Complicité associate artist, Christina Deinsberger.
The City for Incurable Women
A regular highlight in our calendar, the riotous Spork! Poetry returns with Poetic Hunts: A Valentine's Special on - you guessed it - Valentine's Day! As always, you can expect an extraordinary display of spoken word talent, including special guest Naomi Wood who brought the spectacular Gobbess to us last year, a deliriously fun time co-creating a 'community poem', and an audience Love Poem competition.
Alongside Spork!, the Exeter City of Literature team has put our city firmly on the map as a place where poets and spoken word artists - both new and established - can thrive by hosting the 4th annual City Slam on Thu 16 Apr. The winner of this exciting competition will be entered into the 2026 Slamovision; an international slam competition featuring poets from UNESCO Cities of Literature across the world!
City Slam (2025)
Raucous comedy continues with Game of Crones on Wed 25 Mar as A&E Comedy (Witch Hunt, DO ALL THE THINGS) return to our stage with their latest feral and gloriously unapologetic offering; a celebration of women in their prime – warriors who will not go gentle into bingo night. Prepare for an incomparable night of entertainment and laughter.
The school holidays feature theatre for the whole family. During February half-term, Anglo-Indonesian children’s shadow puppet company, Indigo Moon Theatre, merge colourful design, original music, engaging storytelling and a combination of marionettes, rod puppets and live acting to reimagine the iconic story of Gulliver's Travels. The show, Gaby Gulliver’s Travels (coming to Exeter Phoenix on Mon 16 Feb), marks the tricentennial anniversary of Jonathan Swift’s book being published.
Gaby Gulliver’s Travels
During the Easter break, on Tue 14 Apr, we welcome back Brave Bold Drama (The Midnight Mission) with The Mexico Mission: a highly interactive, playable theatre show that asks the audience to vote and help solve an art forgery case. The show will be followed by an arts and crafts workshop enabling children and their grownups to explore more about traditional Mexican culture.
All this and much more can be discovered in our Spring Performance Programme! Find the full programme here.