New shows at Keswick's Theatre By The Lake

Hannah Khalil's "The Farmer's Wife", based on Helen Rebanks' best-selling memoir, is an autumn season premiere at Theatre By The Lake. Pic: Joanne Coates

Two productions directed by Theatre by the Lake’s artistic director Liz Stevenson have been added to the line-up for the summer-to-autumn season at the Keswick venue.

The main newcomer is the premiere of The Farmer’s Wife, by Hannah Khalil (September 18-October 11), and the other is the return of Duncan Macmillan’s acclaimed

Every Brilliant Thing (August 12-September 5).

Andy Turner in the initial run of Every Brilliant Thing at Theatre By The Lake. Pic: Chris Payne

Alongside Nell Gwynn (July 9-August 1); Calendar Girls - the Musical (August 6-September 5) and A Christmas Carol (November 13-January 3), these two shows complete the 2026 line-up of TBTL productions.

Inspired by Helen Rebanks’ Sunday Times best-selling memoir, The Farmer’s Wife is set in the heart of rural Cumbria, following a day in the life of three women across different generations, living and working on their family farm.

Helen Rebanks said: "Having my story inspire a new play is both thrilling and humbling. Hannah Khalil is an extraordinary playwright; she has taken my experiences, and those of other farming women, and shaped them into something with real emotional depth. 

Liz Stevenson added: “Our production promises to be a deeply atmospheric experience, a theatrical love letter to the raw beauty of the Lake District fells.”

Playwright Hannah Khalil said: “I’ve had a love affair with the Lakes since my early adulthood and have dreamed of making a play for this theatre. It’s my honour to have had the opportunity to celebrate the hidden labour of women in farming, like my grandmothers, inspired by Helen’s honest memoir.”

The Stage award-nominated TBTL production of Every Brilliant Thing - an intimate exploration of mental health, hope and the small things that make life worth living - returns for a limited studio run, followed by a Cumbrian tour.

To complement A Christmas Carol in the Main House, there are two shows for younger families in the Studio, A Town Called Christmas (December 8-27) and Pinocchio (December 28-January 3).

The season also features an eclectic line-up of visiting work across the main and studio stages, everything from an Irish house party to the Brighouse and Rastrick Band, plus The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), comedy nights and Herman's Hermits.

Full details here