Play On Presents: Behind The Curtain

Play On are taking over the Theatre Royal on Tuesday 25 August with Behind The Curtain, a promenade performance that does exactly what the title suggests: it takes you backstage. Instead of sitting in the stalls, you'll be moving through the wings and corridors of the Grade II* listed building, with the show blending theatre, poetry and installation in a work inspired by the stories and spaces of the venue itself.

It's a promenade, so you're on your feet and moving through the theatre rather than watching from a seat. The performance starts at the Stage Door, and the whole thing runs for 60 minutes. There are two showings on the night, at 7pm and 8.30pm, and they keep the groups small — a maximum of 30 people at a time — so it's a fairly intimate way to see the building from the inside.

The cast brings together a few different Brighton names. James Cooney won an Off West End Award for Best Actor for Bottleneck; Lia Burge is an OFFIE nominee and a two-time Hammer & Tongue National Poetry Slam finalist; and Adam Barnard is a writer and director who has worked with the Orange Tree and the National Theatre. The mix of theatre, poetry and installation fits that line-up, and the whole thing is built around the specific spaces of the Theatre Royal.

Behind the show is Play On, a company formed in 2025 by director Bethany Pitts, who has worked with the National Theatre Studio and the Soho and Mercury theatres, and theatre-maker Jon Cooper, known for Old Vic New Voices, Sony and Channel 4. They set it up to nurture new work with Brighton-based artists, and Behind The Curtain is one of those projects. Tickets are £15 plus a booking fee, and since the performance starts at the Stage Door, that's where you'll need to be.