Oxford Playhouse today announces a new production of Terence Rattigan’s In Praise of Love to be staged at the venue in 2027. Following on from the 2026 critically acclaimed staging of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and directed by Playhouse Artistic Director Mike Tweddle, In Praise of Love will represent the next stage of The Playhouse’s work in becoming a national hub of producing theatre.

Running from Saturday13 February to Saturday 6 March 2027, with a press night on Wednesday 17 February, In Praise of Love is an opportunity to see Terence Rattigan’s rarely performed, penultimate play brought vividly to life. 

Rattigan’s connection to Oxford runs deep. He studied History at Trinity College and became an active member of the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS), where he began developing his voice as a playwright. While still an undergraduate, he co-wrote his first play, First Episode, marking the beginning of a career that would make him one of the most celebrated British dramatists of the 20th century. 

Witty, poignant and exquisitely observed, Terence Rattigan’s In Praise of Love is a profound portrait of a family facing up to the truth. Written with Rattigan’s characteristic emotional precision, it asks how far we’ll go to protect the people we love the most. 1970s London. Celebrated literary critic Sebastian and his wife Lydia, a refugee from wartime Estonia, present a picture of a tired marriage. When an old friend arrives and their son starts questioning their motives, a carefully maintained web of loyalty and deception begins to unravel.

The creative team will include Playhouse Artistic Director Mike Tweddle returning as Director after his work on Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, alongside award-winning set and costume designers Liz Ascroft & Amanda Stoodley (Designers), Robin Colyer (Composer and Sound Designer) and Will Hayman (Lighting Designer).

Oxford Playhouse Artistic Director, Mike Tweddle said: “It’s a great privilege to stage this masterpiece - one of the most moving and intelligent plays I’ve read. Rattigan described it as his favourite, and he gathered a lifetime of experience in creating it. I can’t think of a richer story to share with our audiences, as we continue to grow Oxford Playhouse’s reputation as a home for quality drama.”

2027 marks 50 years since the death of Terence Rattigan. The anniversary offers a timely opportunity to see one of his less frequently performed plays such as In Praise of Love, bringing Rattigan’s writing to a new generation of audiences.

The Sir Terence Rattigan Charitable Trust said: “Fifty years after his death, we’re thrilled that Oxford Playhouse are mounting this production of one of Rattigan’s most heart-felt, but rarely-seen works. Like many of his best plays, In Praise of Love is very autobiographical and deeply personal- written when Rattigan was facing the end of his life and in which he wrestles with his early ambitions as a writer and his fractious relationship with his father. It’s an enormously powerful family drama of secrets and lies driven by love. We’re very excited to see how Mike and his team at The Playhouse un-peel all the fascinating layers of this compelling late work."

In Praise of Love will sit alongside Oxford Playhouse’s outstanding programme of theatre, comedy, dance and music, affirming its commitment to serving as a thriving charity, a creative hub and a community anchor.