The Cast in Rehearsals Photo Credit: Mike Kwasniak
A Little Night Music, by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, The Gallery Players Studio, May 25-30, 2026.
Set in Sweden during the heady days of summer, this Stephen Sondheim classic brings together some beautiful songs (Send In The Clowns, A Weekend In The Country) along with some witty tales of mis-matched desires.
Who will end up with who in this romantically-charged musical comedy? The action takes place in The Land of the Midnight Sun, where, according to local folk-lore, the sun smiles at night on young lovers protecting the foolish from making the wrong choices.
Grande matriarch Madame Armfeldt, played by Shirley Lyons, tells her young granddaughter that the summer night will smile three times “at the follies of human beings.”
Shirley Lyons & Rose Bennett in rehearsals for the Gallery Players production of A Little Night Music Photo Credit: Mike Kwasniak
It’s a heart-warming tale which relishes in the foibles of us all and the mish-mash of love, tragedy and mis-communication all plays out over the space over a long weekend at a country mansion. The servants are the all-seeing eyes as the guests discover that the people they arrived with on Friday aren’t necessarily the people they should be leaving with on Monday morning.
With its first word, “Remember?” A Little Night Music invites us back to a past era of elegance and enchantment – Sweden in the 1930s, where love, laughter, and music float through the air on evening breezes, with the water lapping at the jetty of private island retreats.
Helen Wheatley & Tim Holder in rehearsals for the Gallery Players production of A Little Night Music Photo Credit: Mike Kwasniak
This beautifully designed bitter-sweet musical has, for the first time, been directed by a creative team: Helen Clarke, Lesley Burrows and Gary Avis, who, along with musical director Matt Snow, have worked together on different elements of the performance to create an immersive theatrical experience.
The cast includes a mix of Gallery regulars such as Helen Wheatley, Stephanie Brown, Martin Leigh, as well as returning veterans Tim Holder, Shirley Lyons, Jon Tavener, Mike Kwasniak along with new rising stars Riley Britchfield, Evie Snow, Ryan Cope, Charlotte Rose Sampson, Rose Bennett, Evie Capon and Josh Day.
Evie Snow & Riley Britchfield in rehearsals for the Gallery Players production of A Little Night Music Photo Credit: Mike Kwasniak
When Sir Trevor Nunn revived A Little Night Music in the West End in 2008, The Daily Telegraph wrote: “The score positively throbs with love, regret and desire.”
When it transferred to Broadway composer Jason Robert Brown commented: “This is a score of unquestionable intelligence ….. effortlessly buoyant, light and accessible and bursting with charm and affection. A Little Night Music …. is sophisticated – but it is also heart-breaking and comical and involving and spirited.”
Experience the love, laughter and the gorgeous music at The Gallery Players Studio in St Georges Street, Ipswich.
A Little Night Music, by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, The Gallery Players Studio, May 25-30, 2026 7.30pm (2.30pm Saturday Matinee). Tickets are available online .
Prices: £17 Adults / £14 Under 21’s, Opening night & Matinee – All tickets £14. Group rates are available (10+). A small booking fee applies to all tickets.
SUFFOLK THEATRE 