Entry
£20
Date
Thu 17 Dec 2026
Time
7–9pm
Location
Foyle Rooms, Turner Contemporary
A funny, moving evening of real stories, secret feelings and the letters we never quite send.
What would you say if you knew you never had to send it?
This Christmas, Letters You’ll Never Send returns to Margate for a very special festive edition at Turner Contemporary.
Built entirely around real, anonymous letters submitted by members of the public, the show gives a voice to the things we think, feel and carry with us, but for whatever reason can never quite say.
A love letter. A confession. A thank you. A furious rant. A goodbye you never got to say. A letter to someone you’ve lost, an ex you definitely shouldn’t text, the relative who ruined Christmas, your younger self, or even Father Christmas himself.
Performed live by an ensemble of actors, the letters move from the hilarious and outrageous to the tender and heart-breaking. The performers don’t know exactly what the night will hold until the letters are brought to life, meaning no two performances can ever be the same.
And at Christmas, there’s even more left unsaid.
It’s a season of family, nostalgia and celebration, but also of complicated relationships, empty chairs, old memories, ridiculous traditions, people we miss and people we’d quite happily never spend another Christmas with.
So whether your letter is full of love, grief, rage, regret, gratitude, joy–or something completely unprintable, we want to hear it.
Submit your letter anonymously before the show and it could become part of the performance.
Real letters. Real people. A night like no other.
About the team
Letters You’ll Never Send is created and directed by Katie McGarry, actor, director, theatre-maker and founder and Artistic Director of Bindlestick Theatre Company. Currently starring as Belle Livingstone in '58th Street Country Club', Katie’s performance career spans West End theatre, UK touring, open-air Shakespeare, new writing, comedy and voiceover. Her theatre-making includes collaborations with Paines Plough and artsdepot, alongside long-standing work with arts organisations across Kent. She has also previously performed for Turner Contemporary, including headlining at Dreamland for 'Salamagundy'. Katie’s work is rooted in finding humour, humanity and moments of magic within the messiness of real life, with 'Letters You’ll Never Send' bringing that fascination with relationships and the things we leave unsaid to the stage.
She is joined by an accomplished ensemble spanning theatre, film, television, comedy and new writing.
Nathan Lang is a British-Australian actor and comic whose credits range from Neighbours to Yorgos Lanthimos’ Academy Award-winning The Favourite, alongside extensive work in theatre, comedy, clowning and voiceover.
Phoebe Ladenburg is an award-winning actor, director and theatre-maker, trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, whose credits include STING at the Young Vic; she was a finalist for Best Performance at the 2025 OffWestEnd Awards and winner of both an Edinburgh Lustrum Award and Best Actress at the Tokyo International Short Film Festival.
Naomi Cooper-Davis is an actor, creative producer, comedian and facilitator with a screen career spanning two decades, including Peep Show, The Sandman, In the Long Run and a series-regular role in Coronation Street. She is also an experienced improviser and Edinburgh Festival performer with a particular passion for making live performance accessible to everyone.
Luke Millard, a Rose Bruford-trained actor and voice artist with more than a decade of professional experience, has performed in Upstart! Shakespeare Rebel Daughter Judith and toured Singapore and Hong Kong with Action to the Word’s Romeo and Juliet.
Jayne Edwards is an actor and voice artist whose screen credits include Channel 4’s Truelove and Netflix’s The Crown, with theatre work at the Arcola, The Vaults, Old Red Lion and Oldham Coliseum.
Alex Ratcliffe trained at LAMDA and has worked professionally for more than 25 years, with credits including the Orange Tree Theatre and Salisbury Playhouse, international touring across Asia, and co-founding The Fitzrovia Radio Hour. He was also co-director of Margate’s Tom Thumb Theatre.
