It felt important to write now because, for a moment, the scale of what we have built together has become impossible to ignore. Years of work, conversation, hope and determination have converged in one extraordinary milestone - and before looking ahead, I want to pause and recognise the people who made it possible.
As of yesterday, we have nine extraordinary productions running simultaneously across the West End as lead producer, alongside two on Broadway. It’s a West End record, surpassing our previous one, and I find that difficult to take in. Each production represents years of care, courage and commitment; now, they are all here together, sharing the same moment.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, The Book of Mormon, PADDINGTON The Musical, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Cherry Orchard, RENT, The Lives of Others and Thelma & Louise. Nine very different worlds, brought to life by extraordinary people working at the top of their game.
And yet the number itself is not what moves me most. It is what lies behind it: the first conversations, the risks taken, the problems solved, the rehearsals, the late nights, the moments of doubt, and the shared belief that these stories were worth bringing to audiences.
Sitting in these theatres, I experience it all afresh: the laughter, the stillness, the moments when an audience seems to hold its breath. Watching actors discover something together and seeing audiences respond still moves me deeply, even after a lifetime in theatre. I hope it always will.
Yesterday evening, we had the gala for the reimagined one-part production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, beginning a new chapter after ten years as a two-part production, as well as the first preview of The Lives of Others. We are also preparing to welcome our exciting second-year PADDINGTON The Musical company, following the wonderful original cast who gave the show so much. These moments carry real emotion: gratitude for everything that brought us here, and excitement for what lies ahead.
Alongside this, we are developing and preparing work for audiences here and around the world, including PADDINGTON The Musical on Broadway and in Sydney next year, Quentin Tarantino’s The Popinjay Cavalier, and a host of other extraordinary new works for 2027 that we will announce soon. It is an exhilarating time for the company, and producing so much world-class work with so many gifted people is an honour I will never take for granted.
But no achievement in theatre belongs to one person. I wish you could see what I see every day at SFP; the passionate and dedicated people I work with, the care they bring, the challenges they solve, and their belief in the work. I know how much they give, and I am deeply grateful and immensely proud of what we are achieving together.
Beyond our London HQ are the writers, actors, creative teams, practitioners, musicians, production managers, stage managers, technicians, crews, wider administration, marketing, ticketing and press teams, investors, crucial producing partners and all the staff at all the theatres, whose skill and dedication make every day and every performance possible. So many people contribute so much, often far from the spotlight. Thank you.
And then there’s you, our loyal audiences. You are at the heart of everything we do. Thank you for coming, for your curiosity, for taking a chance, for laughing and crying with us, and for allowing these stories to become part of your lives. What you bring into the theatre completes the work. It is the reason all the effort, ambition and care matter.
It is an honour and a privilege to spend my life in theatre, surrounded by such brilliant people and sharing this work with you. This milestone belongs to all of us.
I feel very blessed.
With love,
Sonia x