The world premiere stage adaptation of Three Men in a Boat will run at the Rose Theatre in Kingston from 18 September to 10 October 2026, with a press performance on 23 September.

The complete cast has been announced for the production, which was first flagged by BroadwayWorld back in February without casting or creative-team details. Five months on, the full company is locked.

Jonny Weldon plays Jerome, the novel's narrator and lightly fictionalised version of its author, Jerome K. Jerome. Bronté Barbé takes the role of Harris, Richard David-Caine plays George, and Calum Donald-Bruce plays Montmorency — the fox terrier who rounds out the boating party. WhatsOnStage

The adaptation is by Al Smith, a playwright whose work includes Harrogate and The Trick, and is based on Jerome's 1889 novel — a comic account of a two-week boating holiday on the Thames that has never been out of print. Director Christopher Haydon has described the piece as a play with songs, rather than a full musical. It began life as a straight play, he said, but incorporated comic musical numbers as the piece developed. Those songs are by Grant Olding, a Tony Award nominee, who also serves as musical director and sound designer.

The creative team behind the production is extensive. John Nicholson is movement director and comedy consultant — Nicholson is a founder of the comedy-theatre company Peepolykus. Simon Kenny designs set and costumes. Simisola Majekodunmi handles lighting. Chris Pirie is puppetry director, suggesting Montmorency the dog may involve more than a flat cap and a lead. Claudette Williams is voice and dialect coach, Juliet Horsley is casting director, and Rebecca Wear joins as associate director through the Drama League Rose Directing Fellowship.

The Rose Theatre's own website classifies the production under both Drama and Comedy, which fits a source novel that veers between slapstick and quiet reflection on the river.

First published in 1889, Jerome's book follows three friends and a dog attempting a leisurely trip up the Thames in a rowing skiff. Their preparations go wrong, their navigation goes wrong, and the tinned pineapple is opened without a tin-opener. It sold poorly at first, then became one of the most successful comic novels in English. A century and a quarter later, it still sells.

Tickets are available through the Rose Theatre Kingston website.