Image Credit: Photo of Leyla Nazli by Olivia Harris.

From the moment a five-minute piece of political visual theatre stopped her in her tracks at the age of ten, Leyla Nazli’s path was set. That early spark – later intensified by encounters with Arthur Miller, Ibsen, and the Royal Court’s production of Death and the Maiden – forged a lifelong commitment to theatre that is international, political and unafraid. Today, as Deputy Artistic Director and Executive Producer of Arcola Theatre, that sensibility continues to shape one of London’s most vital cultural spaces.

Arcola’s Spring 2026 season feels especially timely. Across its in-house productions – from Safe Haven and Iphigenia to Bitch Boxer, Dear Jack, Dear Louise and Quartet in Autumn – the programme confronts war, displacement, gender inequality, ageing and intimacy, always placing ordinary people at the heart of global stories. It is theatre that bridges headlines and humanity, offering not silence but engagement.

Despite the pressures facing the industry, Leyla remains hopeful. She sees defiance and energy in the next generation of theatre-makers – artists forming companies, opening spaces, and refusing to be defeated. It is this belief in resilience, compassion and collective imagination that runs through both her work and this season: a reminder that the power of theatrical storytelling is entering an exciting new era.

When you think back to your childhood or student years, is there a moment – a story, a performance, a piece of cultural memory – that first cracked open your love for theatre? How did those early sparks, combined with your lived experience, shape the sensibility you bring to the Arcola today?

When I was 10 years old, I watched a five-minute political visual theatre as part of a community event evening organised in my primary school. Years later, when I was 20, I watched Royal Court’s production of Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman in the West End, which affected me enormously, but my love for theatre has started with Arthur Miller’s The View from the Bridge and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. My taste has always been for the international, political and groundbreaking.

Image Credit: Image for ‘Safe Haven‘ at Arcola Theatre, 14 Jan – 7 Feb.

This Spring season is deeply rooted in global realities – conflict, displacement, resilience. What guided you and the team when curating these in-house productions? And what responsibility do you feel theatres like the Arcola have when telling stories born from war, intervention, injustice and human endurance?

The theatre which has shaped, inspired and motivated me most intensely has always been political. Since day one, Arcola Theatre has been producing international and political plays with an ethos to shine a light on marginalised and underrepresented voices and stories. The world is going through so much injustice, displacement of communities and people – theatre can’t just be silent about this. It is our duty to raise awareness, empathy and politically engage, not put our heads in the sand.

Image Credit: Image for ‘Iphgenia‘ at Arcola Theatre, 2 April – 2 May.

Safe Haven and Iphigenia both deal with the human cost of political and military decisions. What do these works say about the world we’re living in now – and why is it important for audiences in London to sit with these narratives in 2026?

Art helps bridge the gap between statistics and reality. The headlines we are bombarded with, and the humans behind them.

Both Safe Haven and Iphigenia focus their lens on the ordinary people at the heart of these crises. People who are impacted by politics, paying the price for wars that they didn’t create. More than mere victims, however, both these stories seek to shine a light on where ordinary civilians can also make instrumental changes in their countries and global political structures. I hope, with stories such as these, that audiences leave inspired – to make their own differences in the world. Small or large, politics affects us all and we should look to shape it however we can.

Image Credit: Image for Ken Ludwig’s ‘Dear Jack, Dear Louise‘ at Arcola Theatre, 2 Apr – 2 May.

The season also holds space for intimate dramas like Dear Jack, Dear Louise and the first-ever stage adaptation of Quartet in Autumn. How do these quieter, more tender stories complement the heavier geopolitical productions? What do they reveal about connection, loneliness and love in the face of uncertainty?

Community and connection breed hope, even in the darkest chapters of history. This messaging is at the heart of both these productions, giving profoundly moving and warmly witty interrogations into beautifully complex characters who – despite all odds – are able to push through the most difficult times again caused by global conflict.

Quartet in Autumn follows four retirement-age colleagues as they navigate their later years in the ever-shifting post-war British landscape. Ken Ludwig’s Dear Jack Dear Louise is a heartfelt romcom which follows the real-life romance of his parents – sparked by a chance letter correspondence that endured the whole of the second world war.

Both these moving stories show the power and necessity of the connections we make. Whatever the circumstances, our need for one another will never waver.

Image Credit: Image for ‘Bitch Boxer‘ at Arcola Theatre, 18 Feb – 14 Mar.

With Bitch Boxer, the personal becomes political in a different way – through gender, sport and grief. Why was it important for you to include this story, and how does Chloe’s fight speak to wider struggles around equality, representation and vulnerability in today’s society?

Bitch Boxer was important to include because it shows how the personal is inseparable from the political, particularly when viewed through the intersecting lenses of gender, race, sexuality, sport and grief. Chloe Jackson’s story is not just about breaking into the Olympic boxing ring in 2012, the first year women were allowed to compete, but about what it costs to exist and persevere in spaces that were never designed for someone like her. As a Black queer woman, Chloe carries the weight of multiple forms of marginalisation, facing systemic barriers, stereotypes and invisibility alongside the physical demands of elite sport.

Her fight becomes even more complex when she loses her father just as she is on the brink of achieving their shared dream. This moment of grief exposes vulnerability in a culture that often demands strength and silence, particularly from Black women and queer athletes. Chloe’s endurance is not framed as heroic invincibility, but as the painful, ongoing act of getting back up after life’s hardest blows. In this way, her story speaks to wider struggles around equality and representation today, highlighting how resilience is forged through loss, love and resistance, and why making space for these stories on stage remains both urgent and political.

Looking across all five in-house productions, what values run through the season that feel distinctly “Arcola”? How do these productions embody the theatre’s commitment to championing marginalised voices, challenging power structures, and creating space for empathy during turbulent times?

Upholding compassion through turbulent times, this season is a theatrical tapestry that pays homage to the marginalised and the brave. Championing voices and stories of those fighting to define their place in the world, and putting humanity front and centre, Arcola strives to present ideas of hope and endurance which can support and inspire our audiences.

Image Credit: Image for ‘Quartet in Autumn‘ at Arcola Theatre, 7 May – 13 June.

The theatre industry is facing extraordinary pressures – from tepid governmental support to shifting cultural habits. In the middle of all this, what gives you hope? What do you see emerging – in artists, audiences or the wider ecosystem – that makes you believe in the future of theatre?

Despite cuts, COVID, lockdown and all the other difficulties faced by this industry, we persevere. Many theatres and arts centres across the country have closed down, yet we still see new theatres opening, companies forming, and voices making their mark. The next generation is not deterred. They are injecting the ecosystem with energy, and an unwillingness to be defeated by the challenges which affect theatre makers in this country. They give me hope.

Finally, we always ask for recommendations. Which three London venues (beyond the Arcola Theatre), communities or cultural spaces feel like “home” to you – places that sustain your imagination, your politics, or your sense of belonging?

Bush Theatre, The Yard Theatre and the Royal Court are spaces which feel like home. Their programming, giving opportunity to new writing and political theatre, feel akin to Arcola’s ethos.

Leyla Nazli is the Deputy Artistic Director & Executive Producer, Arcola Theatre.

Find out more via arcolatheatre.com