INK Festival has unveiled the full programme for its 10th anniversary edition, running from 16 to 19 April 2026 across multiple venues in Halesworth, Suffolk.
The festival, which has grown from showcasing just 15 plays to becoming the world’s largest producer of short plays, will stage 70 new works selected from more than 1,000 script submissions. Featuring established and emerging playwrights, this year’s programme spans radio plays, family events, readings and new writing workshops.
Highlights include Jonathon Sims’ Trick of Light, described as a chilling mystery from the creator of The Magnus Archives. The Cut Studio will host Tom Hartwell’s comedy Proof, while Canadian playwright Dave Carley presents the UK debut of Sugar Daddy, staged alongside new pieces from Jo McNamara, Tom Draper and JP Mannion.
The INKredibles scheme returns with new short play commissions from Richard Curtis and Esther Freud. Curtis’s Portrait, performed twice daily, follows a famous actress commissioning a portrait for her husband’s birthday. Freud’s Signs and Whispers explores a couple confronted by a figure from their past on a Tube platform, with performances at The Cut Theatre and author signings during the festival.
Site‑specific theatre remains a key part of INK’s identity. Two plays will be staged on a local bus: Jonathan McCully’s farce Troubled Tours and John Morris’s comedy The Replacement Bus Driver. Five further plays will be performed in The Larder, a working food bank where audiences are encouraged to bring donations. Pieces include Lorna Veitch’s 36 Hours and Darren Robinson’s The Bureaucrats, created in collaboration with the University of East Anglia’s MA Scriptwriters.
Rob John’s The Drummer Boy, which premiered as part of the Teen Suicide Prevention Schools’ Tour 2025, will be staged at Rifle Hall Stage, addressing youth mental health and emotional wellbeing. The festival’s youth programme continues with a free Schools’ Day on 20 April, offering regional students access to new writing.
The children’s programme includes puppetry, music and mythical creatures, performed inside Halesworth’s magic shop, along with family workshops, a treasure trail and a free Sunday Funday on 19 April.
Beyond theatre, INK Festival will host headline events including readings from the BBC National Short Story Award, screenings from the 2025 Suffolk Short Film Festival and appearances from Alistair McGowan, Jan Ravens, Jon Culshaw, Luke Wright, Di Spiers, Hugh Bonneville and Sir Tony Robinson. Workshops for writers and free community events will also run throughout the festival.
Artistic Director Julia Sowerbutts comments, “In rural Suffolk, in a few weeks’ time, over four days from dawn to dark Halesworth ignites. 70 new plays, 40 actors, 10 directors, 12 venues — plus poetry, talks, workshops, youth events and celebrities that include Hugh Bonneville, Richard Curtis, Angus Deayton, Esther Freud, Luke Wright, Jan Ravens, Alistair McGowan and Sir Tony Robinson — how could I not be excited?”
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
