MTFESTUK 2025: Discover the Future of Musical Theatre on Stage

MTFestUK, launched in 2019, is not your typical theatre event. It’s more like a lab—brimming with fresh scripts, bold composers, and the occasional bit of on-the-fly improvisation. Instead of polished, full-scale spectacles, you’ll see 60-minute workshop sharings. Think simple staging, minimal costumes, and plenty of creative risk-taking. According to the festival’s own data, at least three of the shows first introduced at MTFestUK have gone on to professional productions, underscoring the event’s growing track record for incubating new musical theatre success stories.

This year’s festival, overseen by Paul Taylor-Mills—the artistic director of the Other Palace—continues to expand its mission of fostering fresh voices.

Each year, the festival introduces us to extraordinary new works, Taylor-Mills explains, many of which have gone on to become fully staged productions. It’s a vital platform for nurturing creativity and inviting audiences to explore the future of musical theatre.

If you’ve ever found yourself bored by the same old revivals or craving a spark of originality, here’s your chance to spot tomorrow’s hit show before everyone else is clamouring for a ticket.

Four Shows, Four Distinct Worlds

The line-up for MTFestUK 2025 is a whirlwind of genres and storylines that span from modern-day London to the dawn of the digital age. Each production will be performed in the Other Palace Studio, allowing you to rotate through multiple shows in one day—or cherry-pick just one that catches your fancy. Tickets can be purchased individually or as part of a bundle, which might be the perfect excuse for a marathon weekend. Let’s dive into the shows themselves.

LOVE CAN

Ever wished you could talk to someone who’s gone, or maybe assemble the ideal companion to help you navigate the city’s daily chaos? Charli Eglinton’s new musical LOVE CAN sets its sights on exactly that. Under the direction of Dean Johnson, this piece follows a group of Londoners who discover an unusual vending machine that dispenses temporary companions. The concept is as whimsical as it is thought-provoking: imagine popping a coin in and out comes your dear old gran to share a cuppa, or perhaps a suave stranger who’s tailor-made to complement your quirks.

What particularly intrigues me is the potential for comedic chaos—or heartbreaking poignancy—when these conjured beings vanish. Will we value them more precisely because they’re so fleeting? With musical direction by Jenny Deacon, LOVE CAN promises a melodic blend of fun and deeper reflection. Some of the more experimental musicals staged at MTFestUK in previous years have thrived on this blend of high concept and intimate storytelling, so keep an eye on this one for an emotional rollercoaster in under an hour.

MORE

Next up is MORE, a dynamic piece by Mahlon Prince that reimagines Great Expectations in contemporary London. The twist? This adaptation draws its musical backbone from hip-hop, soul, and R&B. It’s a bold reworking of Charles Dickens’s classic, centring on Pip, a young man of Caribbean descent whose parents get caught up in the Windrush Scandal. Now, if you’re unfamiliar with that part of modern British history, the Windrush Scandal saw individuals who had lived in the UK for decades suddenly facing deportation issues due to administrative mishaps—a troubling episode that still resonates today.

This storyline puts a fresh spin on Dickens’s themes of ambition, class mobility, and identity, thrusting them firmly into 21st-century London. Expect to see a new take on Miss Havisham and Estella, all while a strong hip-hop pulse drives the narrative. The synergy of old and new has always been catnip for theatregoers seeking a jolt of creativity, and MORE feels like it could be a prime example of how musicals can tackle tough subjects with both style and substance.

NERDS

You’ve probably heard about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs: two titans of Silicon Valley, starting out in modest garages only to reshape the world with personal computers and smartphones. But have you ever imagined their rivalry as a musical comedy? That’s exactly what NERDS delivers. With music by Hal Goldberg and book and lyrics by Jordan Allen-Dutton and Erik Weiner, this show charts the comedic—and occasionally cutthroat—battle between Microsoft and Apple.

Several years ago, NERDS was on the cusp of a major Broadway run, only to see plans evaporate at the eleventh hour. If you’re fascinated by the digital revolution (or just love the idea of singing code geeks), this might be your best chance yet to witness the comedic spectacle that never quite made it to the Great White Way. Given how heavily we now rely on technology for everything from booking theatre tickets to reading articles like this, the musical’s exploration of early tech mania could feel like a quirky trip down memory lane.

THEATRE MUM

Rounding out the line-up is THEATRE MUM, penned by Rory Svensson and Helen Greenham (who also serves as the musical director). We follow Kit, a musical theatre performer teetering on the edge of burnout—her career is stalling, her finances are thin, and she’s starting to question if the spotlight still belongs to her. Directed by Lizzy Connolly, THEATRE MUM delves into the emotional struggle between creative ambition and the practicalities of everyday life, especially when an unforeseen situation prompts Kit to rethink her future entirely.

This show feels particularly timely given the emphasis on work-life balance in the industry today. Consider the well-documented challenges performers face, such as irregular contracts and minimal job security—especially once family responsibilities enter the mix. With its comedic undertones, THEATRE MUM promises to be a heartfelt and humorous peek into the trials and triumphs of those who can’t quite shake the allure of centre stage, even when reality comes knocking.

What Makes the Workshop Format Special

One unique angle that people often overlook is how the workshop format not only benefits the creatives but the audience as well. In many festivals, the script is nearly set in stone by the time tickets go on sale. At MTFestUK, the writers and composers might still be tinkering with a scene, rewriting a lyric, or swapping out an entire musical number. That sense of fluidity can be thrilling—like catching a painter in the act of mixing colours or a chef tasting a sauce before final plating.

In fact, feedback gathered from each performance often informs the next iteration of the show. Seasoned theatre-makers, as well as budding artists, have told me they relish the immediate response from a live crowd. You laugh in the “wrong” place? That might highlight a comedic moment they hadn’t realised was there. Or perhaps you shift uncomfortably during a certain song, prompting the creators to refine the melody or tighten the narrative. By attending MTFestUK, you don’t just watch a performance; you become part of the creative crucible that shapes a future musical—maybe even one destined for the West End or beyond.

The Communal Discovery

While MTFestUK’s official mission is to support and celebrate new writing, there’s an undercurrent of communal discovery that’s rarely talked about. The Other Palace Studio is known for its intimate vibe, so you’ll inevitably find yourself seated among a mix of theatre buffs, industry insiders, and possibly even a few starry-eyed drama students. Last year, I ended up swapping thoughts on a show’s pacing with an off-duty West End performer. We were halfway through a much-hyped new musical, and neither of us could stop grinning at how it all felt so alive—unpredictable, a bit messy, and thoroughly exhilarating.

That sense of camaraderie is a hallmark of workshop festivals. If you’re someone who likes to be “in the know,” MTFestUK is practically tailor-made for you. You’ll gather tidbits of trivia—like how a certain finale once had a dance break that was cut due to time constraints or how the composers replaced an entire duet (complete with a new melody) overnight. Months or years later, when one of these shows hits a bigger stage, you’ll have that magical insider knowledge of how it first came into being.

So there you have it: four brand-new musicals, one intimate London venue, and a festival that’s quickly becoming a key springboard for tomorrow’s hits. From the comedic clashes of NERDS to the quietly profound encounters in LOVE CAN, from the hip-hop reinvention in MORE to the life-reckoning journey of THEATRE MUM, MTFestUK 2025 has something for every curious mind and open heart.

Perhaps you’ve never considered musicals an experimental art form, or you’ve only seen them in their polished, final incarnations. This festival could shatter those preconceptions faster than you can say “take your seats.” If you’re craving the adrenaline rush of witnessing stories that aren’t fully set in stone, MTFestUK is your invitation to catch the creative process in its most unguarded and exciting phase.

Theatre can surprise us, console us, and even provoke us—especially when it’s fresh out of the rehearsal room. As the lights go down in the Other Palace Studio this April, remember that you’re part of the show as much as the cast onstage. Your laughter, your applause, your hushed gasps—they all feed into the next draft of these evolving musicals. And who knows? The production you see this month might just become the next phenomenon—one that fans will rave about years from now, never realising you were there at the very beginning.