FLYBY Musical World Premiere: Theo Jamieson at Southwark Playhouse

Key Points

• New British musical FLYBY will have its world premiere at Southwark Playhouse Borough, London.
• The production will run from 3 April to 16 May, with an initial announced limited season.
• FLYBY is written and composed by Theo Jamieson, who is also credited as the show’s creator.
• The musical is directed and co‑created by theatre director Adam Lenson, known for contemporary and form‑breaking work.
• FLYBY was originally developed in 2025 by the National Theatre, indicating early institutional support and workshop backing.
• The show combines an intimate love story with the vast, isolating backdrop of outer space as its central metaphor and setting.
• At the core of the narrative are two central characters: Daniel, a brilliant but volatile engineer, and Emily, a driven documentary film‑maker.
• Daniel vanishes into deep space, and the story examines the emotional, psychological and moral forces that propelled him there.
• The structure moves fluidly between past and present, gradually revealing how Daniel and Emily’s intense relationship unravelled.
• Themes include psychological breakdown, ambition, moral ambiguity, desire, and the tension between personal fulfilment and responsibility.
• FLYBY explores “the magnetism of desire” and the “inescapable gravity” between two people, drawing on the language of physics and astronomy.
• The musical suggests that the need to feel deeply and recklessly alive can be both seductive and destructive.
• Poppy Gilbert has been cast as Emily; she is known for Netflix’s My Oxford Year and the BBC’s The Other Bennett Sister.
• Stuart Thompson will play Daniel; his credits include Spring Awakening at the Almeida Theatre and SAS: Rogue Heroes for the BBC.
• Gina Beck joins the cast as Amy Greenwood; she is widely recognised for Wicked in the West End and Guys & Dolls at the Bridge Theatre.
• Rupert Young has been cast as Jonathan Jay; his previous work includes Dear Evan Hansen in the West End and Netflix’s Bridgerton.
• Simbi Akande will play Grace Adams; her credits include My Fair Lady at The Mill at Sonning and Hamilton in the West End.
• The show sits within a growing trend of innovative British musicals that blend high‑concept settings with emotionally grounded relationships.
• The production is positioned as both character‑driven drama and visually imaginative, space‑inflected spectacle.
• Casting was announced alongside the premiere dates, underlining the producers’ focus on profile and performance pedigree.

Southwark, London (Southwark Playhouse Borough) January 20, 2026 – A daring new British musical, FLYBY, written by Theo Jamieson and directed and co‑created by Adam Lenson, is set to receive its world premiere at Southwark Playhouse Borough with a limited run from 3 April to 16 May, promising an intimate yet cosmic exploration of love, loneliness and psychological breakdown framed against the vast emptiness of space.

How does FLYBY blend space and an intimate love story?

In information released about the production, FLYBY is described as “daring” and “new”, foregrounding its ambition both in subject matter and theatrical form. The musical explicitly “fuses an intimate and exhilarating love story with the vast and endless loneliness of space,” using the contrast between human closeness and cosmic isolation as its primary dramatic tension.

At the centre of the story are Daniel, a “brilliant but unpredictable engineer who disappears into the void,” and Emily, “a fiercely intelligent documentary film maker with a complicated past.” Their relationship provides the emotional anchor of the narrative, while Daniel’s disappearance into space operates as both literal plot event and metaphor for emotional withdrawal, psychological crisis and the disintegration of trust. The show’s language draws heavily on ideas of orbit, gravity and void, positioning the couple’s bond as something simultaneously magnetic and perilous.

What is the narrative structure and central conflict of FLYBY?

Producers state that the narrative of FLYBY “shifts between past and present,” allowing the audience to uncover, piece by piece, the “tangled forces” that drove Daniel into space and away from Emily. This non‑linear approach suggests a structure in which scenes from the couple’s earlier life are intercut with later consequences, mirroring how memory, regret and obsession refract traumatic events over time.

The story charts Daniel and Emily’s “passionate, combustible relationship,” emphasising intensity and volatility rather than simple romance. Alongside their emotional entanglement, FLYBY focuses on Daniel’s “growing psychological unravelling,” implying a depiction of mental strain, perhaps exacerbated by the pressures of genius, risk‑taking and the unknown. Emily’s own arc is defined by her “struggle to define herself amid talent, ambition, and moral ambiguity,” underscoring the idea that her work as a documentary film maker may blur ethical boundaries as she grapples with how to tell Daniel’s story and her own. Collectively, these threads create a central conflict not only between two lovers, but between desire and duty, self‑knowledge and self‑deception, and the competing demands of career, conscience and intimacy.

How does FLYBY explore desire, gravity and the need to feel alive?

Promotional material frames FLYBY as “a musical story about the magnetism of desire, the inescapable gravity between two people, and their need to feel deeply – sometimes recklessly – alive.” The choice of words underscores how the show relies on scientific and cosmic imagery to articulate emotional states, recasting desire as a force akin to gravity: invisible, constant and difficult to escape.

The phrase “inescapable gravity between two people” points to a dynamic in which Daniel and Emily are pulled towards each other despite evident risks and fractures in their relationship. Their connection appears as both solace and trap, with the gravitational metaphor suggesting orbit, collision and, ultimately, the possibility of one partner breaking free into the void. The description of a need to feel “deeply – sometimes recklessly – alive” hints that the characters may pursue extreme experiences, whether in space exploration, documentary work or emotional confrontation, even when such choices threaten their stability and safety. As such, the musical situates itself among contemporary pieces that question how far individuals will go in search of authenticity and intensity.

Who is in the cast of FLYBY and what are their backgrounds?

The lead roles of Emily and Daniel bring together performers with screen and stage profiles. Emily is played by Poppy Gilbert, whose credits include My Oxford Year for Netflix and The Other Bennett Sister for the BBC, signalling experience in character‑driven drama and literary‑style adaptations. Daniel is portrayed by Stuart Thompson, known for Spring Awakening at the Almeida Theatre as well as the BBC series SAS: Rogue Heroes, pairing musical theatre credentials with television exposure.

The wider principal cast features Gina Beck as Amy Greenwood; she is associated with major musical theatre titles such as Wicked in the West End and Guys & Dolls at the Bridge Theatre, marking her as a seasoned West End performer. Rupert Young plays Jonathan Jay, following work in Dear Evan Hansen in the West End and the global Netflix hit Bridgerton, bringing a blend of musical and high‑profile screen experience. Simbi Akande completes the announced cast list as Grace Adams, with credits including My Fair Lady at The Mill at Sonning and Hamilton in the West End, further underlining the production’s emphasis on casting artists with strong musical theatre and vocal backgrounds.

How was FLYBY developed and what does its premiere at Southwark Playhouse Borough signify?

According to the information provided, FLYBY was “originally developed in 2025 by the National Theatre,” a detail that signals early institutional investment in the piece. Development at such a major national venue usually involves workshops, readings and dramaturgical support, suggesting that the musical has undergone a structured process of refining its book, score and staging concepts before its first full production.