Free summer theatre: Bell Square 2026 programme launched

After the success of last year’s season of outdoor performances at Bell Square, which saw London’s only purpose-built outdoor venue host thrilling performances including Polish Theatre festival Theatre is Freedom | Teatr to Wolność , Watermans announces the 2026 season with a new programme starting on 2nd May.

Special events for 2026 include a new festival, Bell Square Calling – designed to highlight artists from a particular country or region.

The first of this year’s performance sees UK company Vanhulle Dance Theatre present a powerful dance duet, ORB. Bell Square 2026 continues with events every two weeks throughout the summer and autumn with a mix of international contemporary circus, dance, theatre, performance, and music projects.

Sat 2nd May, 1pm & 3pm (22 mins)
Vanhulle Dance Theatre
ORB
Experience the power of connection. Vanhulle Dance Theatre combines dance and authentic martial arts and ORB weaves together explosive physicality, breath-taking partner work, and martial arts-inspired movements. How can we find balance in a world that never stops moving? Set to a haunting sound score, ORB explores the struggle of being together while still apart.

Sat 16th May, 1pm & 3pm (35 mins)
Nandita Shankardass
Roots to Rise
Blending folk and contemporary movement with Indian classical dance, Roots to Rise follows three women, each absorbed in the chaos of their own world, on their journey back to the land and the stories written in the stars. Together they reconnect with the earth, ancestral wisdom, and to the futures emerging on the horizon, celebrating freedom, resistance and community.
Roots to Rise

Sat 30th May, 1pm & 3.30pm (30 mins)
Company Chameleon
Umbra
Meaning ‘shadow’ in Latin, Umbra, is a trio, which looks at the light and darkness within us. The piece explores what we hide and what we reveal, and how behaviour changes depending on who we are with. Fast paced and dynamic, yet delicate and sensitive, Umbra is an invitation to pause and understand ourselves better.

Major highlights later in the season include:
ANHAD, the south Asian festival of music on Saturday 11th July and Saturday 5th September sees the return of celebrated Polish outdoor company, Teatr Biuro Podróży with the UK premiere of their large-scale outdoor show, Eurydyka (Euridice). An artistic response to loneliness, separation, and longing, Eurydyka recounts the fate of two timeless mythological heroes: Orpheus and Eurydice. Their love is stronger than death. Unable to come to terms with the loss of his beloved, Orpheus sets out to find her. The first edition of new festival, Bell Square Calling, focuses on artists from France. Bell Square Calling: France runs from 23rd – 27th September and features a mix of dance, theatre and performance, representing the very best of France’s outdoor arts scene. The full programme will be announced in the coming months.
Visit www.bellsquarelondon.com or follow @BellSquareLDN on Instagram, Facebook and X for more information.