14 July - 1 August 2026
Philosophy of the World
14 July - 1 August 2026
About
“THERE’S NOBODY DOING IT QUITE LIKE THEM”
★★★★ Time Out
New Hampshire, USA. 1940s.
A boy receives a palm reading from a psychic. The prophecy predicts his life’s fate:
1) He will marry a woman with strawberry-blonde hair.
2) He will have two sons.
3) His daughters will form a world-famous rock band.
When the first two come true, he makes the third a reality.
PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD is about The Shaggs, the quintessential outsider band. It’s the show Edinburgh couldn’t shut up about. It’s about the best worst album ever made. It’s about who holds the power to define you. It’s a sticky, sweaty, searing rebellion. Who gets to say whether you’re a legend? Or a loser? Who owns the right (and the rights) to tell your story?
And it’s about dads.
DATES & TIMES
14 July - 1 August 2026
Tuesday - Saturday
7pm, 9pm
HOW TO BOOK
ONLINE
Just click the 'BOOK NOW' button to purchase tickets online. A £2.50 booking fee will apply.
BOX OFFICE
Call 020 3606 0164, Monday to Friday, 10am–5.30pm. A £3 booking fee applies, waived on Access tickets.
WAYS TO SAVE
CONCESSIONS
If you're aged 27 and under, 65+, a student, or unwaged, tickets are cheaper.
GROUP BOOKINGS
If you’d like to make a group booking (10+ tickets) please email boxoffice@theyardtheatre.co.uk.
ACCESS & SUITABILITY
ACCESS
Access tickets are priced as concessions and can be booked online. We offer free tickets for companions, and these must be booked by emailing boxoffice@theyardtheatre.co.uk
ACCESS MEMBERSHIP
Access Members get seats held for performances, tickets at the access rate and companion tickets where you need one. Membership is free.
Contact us at boxoffice@theyardtheatre.co.uk or call 020 3606 0164, Monday to Friday, 10am-530pm.
SUITABILITY
Recommended for ages 16+
CONTENT GUIDANCE
This show contains haze, herbal cigarettes, audience participation, strobe lights, flashing lights, loud music, sudden noises, partial nudity, violence, strong language, depictions of blood, use of prop firearms and themes of patriarchal control and abuse (and daddy issues).
RUNNING TIME
70 minutes with no interval
BECOME A MEMBER
Never miss out.
As a Yard member, you get priority booking, pay no exchange fees, and get every fourth show free. Three ways in: a free Yard Card, Yard Regular at £60 a year, or Yard Resident at £150.
Your membership goes straight back into the work. New writers, new shows, the chances we take.
REVIEWS
“Ear-splittingly loud, raucous, rambling, thoughtful, clever, provocative and absolutely and utterly brilliant.”
Whatsonstage
“Furious and funny rallying cry against patriarchy and perfection... it is unkept, unseemly and chaotic. And that is exactly the point.”
The Guardian
“There’s nobody doing it quite like them”
Time Out
“There are essays to be written about this show”
The List
“Both high-brow and accessible, provocative, honest and intellectual. It feels like the beginning of a movement”
British Theatre Guide
“Every provocative decision is justified”
The Scotsman
“Original, unsettling, and oddly moving”
North West End
“Rigorous, intelligent show”
The Stage
“Effervescent and bubbling at the brim with anger, wit and vitality”
Corr Blimey
“Relentless”
Theatre Vibe
Team
PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD is supported by Arts Council England.
The show was commissioned by Cambridge Junction and developed with the support of the National Theatre’s Generate programme, New Diorama Theatre’s Intervention 01, Bristol Old Vic, Curious Directive and Exeter Northcott Theatre.
PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD was first developed through Live Drafts at The Yard in 2024.
The Yard Theatre’s reopening season is supported by our Season Circle: Carolyn Ward, Georgia Oetker, Fiona Clements, and those who prefer to remain anonymous.
Reviews
“Assault on bourgeois conformity.”
The Telegraph
“Brilliantly bonkers, metatextual and high-octane”
Fest Magazine
“A cacophonous, raucous howl that batters your eardrums and paints the floor with your blood.”
Three Weeks
“Unpredictable, and wholly original.”
Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
“A stupidly smart jab at patriarchy and at performance itself… funny, disturbing and not a little exhilarating.”
All Edinburgh Theatre
“Loud, chaotic, and dangerous, dismantles both dramaturgical and health-and-safety rule books.”
Spy in the Stalls
