What's On / Bristol Concerts, Theatre & Dance / theatre

Theatre Shows in Bristol

upcoming event

Bristol's Theatre Scene

Bristol’s theatres: an overview

Bristol’s theatres and art galleries are as world-renowned as it’s underground culture (Banksy, Tricky et al). Think Bristol Hippodrome, Bristol Old Vic, The Tabacco Factory, Redgrave Theatre and the Department of Theatre at the University of Bristol, where the theatre journey starts for many young Bristolians. While Bristol’s theatres are all smaller than those of the capital and there’s no dedicated theatre district, you’re just as likely to see West End plays like the Book of Mormon and War Horse as smaller more experimental productions at one of the city’s dramatic festivals like Mayfest, Young Blood Theatre Festival and the Bristol Shakespeare Festival. Even clubs like Loko Club act as a sort of in-between for Bristol’s more immersive theatre productions that stem from circus-based theatrics of Circomedia.

Bristol’s Old Vic Theatre is nationally renowned for big-budget shows and for empowering new theatrical talent with Bristol Ferment. While the Old Vic and it’s companion theatre school cater for both experimental and traditional performances, the popularity of physical theatre elsewhere in the city continues to rise. Cicrcomedia’s school for circus performance and physical acting hosts shows from both its students and scratch nights put on by Ausform. The Tobacco Factory Theatre is South Bristol’s artistic hub with tickets for experimental theatre, comedy and workshops all available. Other theatres of note include The Alma Tavern in Clifton and the Wardrobe Theatre in Old Market (part of the Old Market Assembly).

Buy tickets for theatre events in Bristol

Our recent theatre recommendations

An LGBTQ+ History Month special from the good folk of Raise The Bar, showcasing four visionary queer voices in verse: award-winning British-Syrian writer Lisa Minerva Luxx, former Birmingham Poet Laureate and beatbox maestro Jasmine Gardosi, radical poet-activist Aflo and theatre-maker-cum-storyteller Anita Karla Kelly. All profits to MAP, so dig deep! Raise the Bar: Queer Solidarity at Arnolfini.

Sell out warning! Get your teeny tiny eyebrows and best Canadian tux to the Cube for a second annual nostalgiafest of live 00s-core cabaret + a showcase of music video greats. Hair whips! Rain machines! Futuristic filmed-inside-a-cheese-grater favourites! It’ll all be here! Plus it’s Party Girls so: heckling and singalongs are hiiiighly encouraged. The Party Girls are back again this January with a music video inspired night, because you all loved the last one so much

A special PWYC screening of Franco Rosso’s classic tale of brutality and prejudice in Thatcher’s Britain; Babylon was a landmark of UK cinema and remains an unflinching testament to cultural defiance. Afterwards URF host a reflective open discussion on white supremacy and institutional discrimination, with all funds going to Netpol. URF screening of Babylon (1980) at the Malcolm X Community Centre on Wednesday 28.01.2026, with a panel/audience Q&A, fundraising for Netpol.

A kaleidoscopic dance-theatre plunge into early 20th-century upheaval. VENUS 2.0 unravels the wild journey of a Suffragette turned fascist, hurtling you through the volatile birth and rise of a political disease. Six shape-shifting dancers fuse explosive movement, sharp wit, and cabaret flair to interrogate power, chaos, and the future’s dark edge. An explosive journey into the roots of Fascism

What our editors say

“Uncovering a mysterious series of visions and omens, Ways of Knowing is a dance-theatre work which investigates the tools we use to predict and prophesy the future, from early meteorological devices to corporate trend forecasting and divination. Amidst an intricate system of set and improvised choreography, found text and visceral sound design, award-winning artists Emergency Chorus wield both science and magic to reckon with our precarious present and enter into the unknown.”
From: Emergency Chorus: Ways of Knowing

“Emergency Chorus is the collaboration between Ben Kulvichit (he/ him) and Clara Potter-Sweet (they/them). Since 2017, they have been working across theatre, live art and dance, creating collage-like performances of text, choreography, music and image. Their work deals with states of crisis and emergency, the relationships between ecology, capitalism and technology, and ways of approaching the future — all with complexity, strangeness and playfulness.Ben and Clara live in Bristol and are proud members of artist collective, Interval.”
From: Emergency Chorus: Ways of Knowing

“Hopefully hopeful, The Rest of Our Lives is a joyful dose of dance, theatre, circus and games. A cabaret of life and near death. Two middle-aged lives in an eclectic, spontaneous, predictable and random decline.”
From: The Rest of Our s

“Emergency Chorus is the collaboration between Ben Kulvichit (he/ him) and Clara Potter-Sweet (they/them). Since 2017, they have been working across theatre, live art and dance, creating collage-like performances of text, choreography, music and image. Their work deals with states of crisis and emergency, the relationships between ecology, capitalism and technology, and ways of approaching the future — all with complexity, strangeness and playfulness. Ben and Clara live in Bristol and are proud members of artist collective, Interval.”
From: Emergency Chorus: Ways of Knowing

“Travis Alabanza is a writer, performer and theatre maker from Bristol. For stage, Travis wrote and performed in their debut show BURGERZ which won the Total Theatre Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, sold out at Southbank Centre and Traverse Theatre and toured internationally. It was also voted one of The Guardian Readers Top Shows of The Year. The text is published by Oberon Books. In January 2026, the show will be remounted in Australia at the Sydney and Melbourne theatre festivals.”
From: Queer Poetry Cabaret | Travis Alabanza + Guests