From ‘Evita Summer’ to Paddington, 2025 brought a wealth of new and returning shows to London’s West End and its Off West End theatres. Does 2026 have a similarly exciting set of shows ready to curtain up? Let’s take a look…
1. Already Perfect – King’s Head Theatre (9 Jan – 15 Feb)
At once brutally honest and defiantly hopeful, Already Perfect asks what it truly takes to make peace with your own story. With humour, music, and unflinching truth, it lands on a radical simplicity; there is nothing to prove: you are already perfect.
2. Gerry & Sewell – Aldwych Theatre (13-24 Jan)
Gerry and Sewell live in Gateshead. They’ve got nothing — except a dream. A season ticket to their beloved football club. But after years of austerity and watching their team sold off by a southern businessman more interested in merchandise than matches, life’s tough. Until they decide they’re getting those season tickets, whatever it takes.
3. Beautiful Little Fool – Southwark Playhouse Borough (15 Jan – 28 Feb)
Told through the eyes of their adult daughter, Scottie, Beautiful Little Fool tells the story of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald: brilliant, tempestuous and infamous.
4. Guess How Much I Love You? – Royal Court (16 Jan – 21 Feb)
A story about starting a family, impossible choices, and enduring love.
5. Mrs President – Charing Cross Theatre (23 Jan – 8 Mar)
You wait for one play about Mary Lincoln, and then two come along at once. Mary Lincoln is a woman under siege — with her grief, her detractors, and herself. In the shadow of her late husband, President Abraham Lincoln, she battles a world eager to define her and a conscience that will not rest. Stars Keala Settle.
6. Ballad Lines – Southwark Playhouse Elephant (23 Jan – 21 Mar)
Ballad Lines is a heart-opening musical about the stories we inherit — and the choices each generation makes to break, reshape, or carry them forward.
7. American Psycho – Almedia Theatre (22 Jan – 14 Mar)
Patrick Bateman has it all – looks, money, style and status. Engaged to the beautiful Evelyn Williams, he is about to win the prestigious Fischer account for his investment bank and celebrate by dining at Dorsia. But there’s another side to his life that Patrick keeps secret. And people – including those closest to him – keep disappearing… A revival of the musical, directed by Rupert Goold as he prepares to depart as Almeida Artistic Director.
8. Arcadia – Old Vic (24 Jan – 21 Mar)
In a country house, two centuries apart, genius unfolds. A teenage prodigy discovers the mathematics of the universe, as the adults around her fail to hide their passions under reason. In the present day, scholars chase the ghosts of that same household — seeking truth, proof and perhaps each other.
9. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry – Theatre Royal Haymarket (29 Jan – 18 Apr)
Harold Fry was never meant to be a hero. An ordinary man in an ordinary life until a letter from a long-lost friend sends him out the front door… and he keeps on walking.
10. Man and Boy – National Theatre (30 Jan – 14 Mar)
Jazz, Broadway and the Great Depression. In 1930s New York City, international financier Gregor Antonescu’s luck has finally run out. As news of a catastrophic business deal ripples across the world, he flees to the apartment of his estranged son Basil.
11. I’m Sorry Prime Minister – Apollo Theatre (30 Jan – 9 May)
From the BAFTA Award-winning co-creator of Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, Jonathan Lynn, comes the long-awaited final chapter of British political satire — and it is as cunning, cutting, and catastrophically funny as ever.
12. Dracula – Noël Coward Theatre (4 Feb – 30 May)
Acclaimed star of Wicked, Harriet, Genius: Aretha, and The Colour Purple, Cynthia Erivo transforms into all 23 roles in Tony Award-nominated adaptor and director Kip Williams’ intoxicating, blood-pumping reimagining of the immortal gothic horror.
13. Deep Azure – Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (7 Feb – 11 Apr)
When her fiancé, Deep, is killed by the police, Azure’s world spirals out of control. Powered by the spiritual imprint Deep has left on them all, Azure and Deep’s friends – Roshad and Tone – do their best to find peace in the wake of the tragedy. However, the Heavenly MCs of Street Knowledge have other plans for them. Chadwick Boseman’s play is inspired by the true events of university student Prince Jones, influenced by the poetry of Shakespeare and powered by the pulse of Hip-Hop theatre.
14. Sweetmeats – Bush Theatre (7 Feb – 21 Mar)
Hema hasn’t indulged in sweet treats for years. She wants to be healthier and hopes the type 2 diabetes course she’s been attending will help. Everything seems on track. Then Liaquat shows up. An intimate love story between two South Asian elders, this charming world premiere will pull at your heartstrings.
15. The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind – @SohoPlace (25 Apr – 18 Jul)
A bold and uplifting new musical telling the true story of a boy who hopes to defy expectations to produce the gift of power and give hope for tomorrow. Plays at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon before reaching London.
16. After Miss Julie – Park Theatre (11-28 Feb)
Strindberg’s darkest romantic tale reimagined by Patrick Marber. On the eve of Labour’s historic 1945 election win, Julie, daughter of a powerful MP, and her father’s chauffeur, John, spark a forbidden flirtation that quickly turns into a tense, deadly struggle for power, desire, and survival.
17. Bird Grove – Hampstead Theatre (13 Feb – 21 Mar)
Alexi Kaye Campbell’s witty and topical new play questions how we can live alongside those we disagree with, and places centre stage the untold story of one of England’s greatest writers (Mary Ann Evans), in a poignant exploration of family ties and self-determination.
18. Evening All Afternoon – Donmar Warehouse (14 Feb – 11 Apr)
Jennifer is about to become Delilah’s stepmother. She wants so badly to connect, but they couldn’t be further apart. In a world that’s shifting under their feet, both women have to summon the quiet courage it takes to open their hearts again. Stars Anastasia Hille and Erin Kellyman.
19. Blink – King’s Head Theatre (19 Feb – 22 Mar)
Blink is a bittersweet rom-com for the digital age. But ten years on from its original run, in a world of livestreams, doorbell cams, vlogging, and online stalking, Phil Porter’s play takes on a new meaning. When our every move is recorded and broadcast online, what does it really mean for someone to see you?
20. Broken Glass – Young Vic (21 Feb – 18 Apr)
Jordan Fein brings this Olivier Award-winning Arthur Miller play to the Young Vic; a bold and passionate story about the consequences of disconnecting with the realities of our world.
21. The Holy Rosenbergs – Menier Chocolate Factory (27 Feb – 2 May)
A gripping play in which a Jewish London family finds itself pitted against the community.
22. Marie & Rosetta – @SohoPlace (28 Feb – 11 Apr)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the roof-raising ‘godmother of rock ‘n’ roll’, influenced countless musicians from Elvis to Johnny Cash. This sparkling, intimate portrait of Rosetta and her beloved singing partner, Marie Knight, restores these forgotten musical heroines to the spotlight as one of the most remarkable and revolutionary duos in music history, starring Beverley Knight.
23. Manic Street Creature – Kiln Theatre (5 – 28 Mar)
Ria is a singer-songwriter. She’s talented. She’s ambitious. And she’s driven- quite literally- all the way from Lancashire to London, to start afresh in Camden Town. This soaring piece of gig theatre from Olivier Award winner Maimuna Memon brings a raw and powerful insight into first love, co-dependence and mental health care – but most of all, how music can help us start again.
24. Yentl – Marylebone Theatre (6 Mar – 12 Apr)
Kadimah Yiddish Theatre’s acclaimed production of Yentl transfers to London’s Marylebone Theatre for a strictly limited six-week engagement. This thrilling new bilingual staging reimagines Isaac Bashevis Singer’s revolutionary tale with urgency, intimacy and a vibrant celebration of Yiddish culture.
25. Summerfolk – National Theatre (6 Mar – 29 Apr)
It’s a hot, beautiful summer in 1905, and Russia’s elite retreat to the countryside to swim, sip champagne and start affairs. When they’re having this much fun, why care about anything else? Deputy Artistic Director Robert Hastie directs Maxim Gorky’s razor-sharp portrait of class, privilege and denial, revived for 2026 in a new adaptation from Nina Raine and Moses Raine.
26. Teeth ‘N’ Smiles – Duke of York’s Theatre (13 Mar – 6 Jun)
Before punk icons like the New York Dolls, Debbie Harry, or Kurt Cobain, there was Maggie Frisby, the unforgettable voice of 1960s counterculture. Once a symbol of rebellion and raw power, Maggie now finds herself broke, jaded, and haunted by the ashes of her band’s failed dreams. As the night unfolds, she battles through the chaos – driven by anger, alcohol, and a voice that simply refuses to fade. David Hare’s rebel play, Teeth ‘N’ Smiles, stars Rebecca Lucy Taylor (aka Self Esteem).
27. Romeo and Juliet – Harold Pinter Theatre (16 Mar – 6 Jun)
In Verona, in the height of summer, two young people meet at a party. The rest is tragedy. Starring Sadie Sink as Juliet and Noah Jupe as Romeo in their West End debuts. Robert Icke directs Shakespeare’s electrifying and timeless tragic tale of love and innocence. One of the most eagerly anticipated shows of the year.
28. Jaja’s African Hair Braiding – Lyric Hammersmith (18 Mar – 25 Apr)
The UK premiere of this Tony Award-winning comedy. Welcome to Jaja’s! This bustling Harlem braiding salon is where neighbourhood women come to have their greatest hairstyle dreams come true, all in the hands of a lively group of West African immigrant braiders.
29. Inter Alia – Wyndham’s Theatre (19 Mar – 20 Jun)
Inter Alia reunites the team behind Prima Facie, Olivier Award-winning writer Suzie Miller, with BAFTA Award-winning director Justin Martin, starring Rosamund Pike. Jessica Parks is a maverick London Crown Court Judge; sharp, compassionate, and determined to change a system she knows isn’t always just. But her career exists inter alia (‘among other things’) as she balances motherhood, friendship and the elusive notion of ‘having it all’.
30. John Proctor Is The Villain – Royal Court (20 Mar – 25 Apr)
Five young women running on pop music, optimism, and fury are about to shed light on the darkest secrets in their small town. Tony Award-winner Danya Taymor directs Kimberly Belflower’s bitingly funny, seven-time Tony Award-nominated fresh take on Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
31. Avenue Q – Shaftesbury Theatre (20 Mar – 29 Aug)
After two decades, the three-time Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q returns to the West End in all its glory. Not for the faint-hearted!
32. Les Liaisons Dangereuses – National Theatre (21 Mar – 6 Jun)
Among the glittering salons of the super-rich, patriarchy equals power, reputation is everything – and for women, one misstep can mean ruin. Marianne Elliott directs Lesley Manville and Aidan Turner in a striking new staging of Christopher Hampton’s celebrated adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos’ classic novel – a thrilling game of love, lies and social warfare.
33. The Last Five Years – London Palladium (24-29 Mar)
Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winner Ben Platt and Golden Globe and NBR winner Rachel Zegler star together in a very special new concert staging. Zegler returns to the home of Evita.
34. The Authenticator – National Theatre (26 Mar – 9 May)
A gripping gothic psychological thriller. Soon after inheriting her family’s stately home, eccentric artist Fenella Harford discovers a stash of hidden diaries and enlists a young academic, Marva, to confirm their authenticity. Joined by Marva’s brilliant but overlooked mentor, Abi, the three women come together to seek the truth, soon realising that secrets at the heart of Harford Hall were darker than they could have imagined.
35. Choir Boy – Stratford East (26 Mar – 25 Apr)
Pharus is a confident and gifted singer who has earned his position as a soloist. But when his pride is sullied by one of his peers, he falters… what does it mean to be a young, Black, queer man – and to be one at the Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys?
36. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest – Old Vic (1 Apr – 23 May)
Inside a psychiatric facility, Chief Bromden has been silent for years — confined and maligned by a system that labels, divides and forgets. But he has a story to tell. He’s just been waiting for someone to listen. Based on Ken Kesey’s countercultural masterpiece, Clint Dyer directs a bold new staging of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest that reignites the spirit of the original novel, starring Aaron Pierre and Giles Terera.
37. I Was A Teenage She-Devil – The Other Palace Studio (2 – 26 Apr)
A new musical! After being pushed over the edge by the most popular kids at school, four-eyed wallflower Nancy Nelson cries to the heavens for help! But it is Satan who hears her cry. The Devil transforms Nancy into a big-haired, foul-mouthed, sex bomb rocker who’s hungry for souls, and sweet revenge is on the menu! Who will save Nancy? And will the power of love for who she really is break the spell before it’s too late?
38. Heart Wall – Bush Theatre (4 Apr – 16 May)
A bittersweet, tender exploration of the long tail of grief and the fickleness of memory, Heart Wall asks where we go when the walls start closing in, and home has become somewhere you don’t know.
39. Please Please Me – Kiln Theatre (16 Apr – 23 May)
Please Please Me is the electrifying story of The Beatles’ meteoric rise and the hidden struggles of their beloved manager – the unsung, gay legend and ‘Fifth Beatle’, Brian Epstein.
40. Grace Pervades – Theatre Royal Haymarket (24 Apr – 11 Jul)
Ralph Fiennes stars as Sir Henry Irving, the first actor ever to be knighted and the greatest star of the Victorian stage. Miranda Raison plays Ellen Terry, the most loved and highest paid actress in England and recruited by Irving to join his renowned company at the Lyceum Theatre.
41. 1536 – Ambassador’s Theatre (2 May – 1 Aug)
Word spreads of a clash between King Henry VIII and his Queen, Anne Boleyn. And closer to home, another rumour threatens to catch fire. 1536 asks whether female solidarity can survive in a world where barbarism and misogyny are state-sanctioned.
42. Krapp’s Last Tape – Royal Court (8 May – 30 May)
Starring and directed by Gary Oldman, on his 69th birthday, a man sits alone and listens to the echoes of his younger self.
43. An Ideal Husband – Lyric Hammersmith (7 May – 6 Jun)
Oscar Wilde’s comedy, Sir Robert Chiltern is riding high on all the very best that modern life has to offer a man of his impeccable taste and immaculate reputation. The house, the clothes, the wife. All seems well until the arrival of the devious Mrs Cheveley, who has a taste for drama and secrets to spill. Her revelations threaten scandal, betrayal, public disgrace: so how far will this perfect gentleman go to protect his good name?
44. Equus – Menier Chocolate Factory (7 May – 27 Jun)
Peter Shaffer’s award-winning, deeply unsettling play returns in a powerful revival directed by Lindsay Posner.
45. Care – Young Vic (11 May – 11 Jul)
A single mum, two feuding pre-teens, and their gran. When Grandmother takes a fall, she is hastily moved to a care home she doesn’t want to be in, surrounded by other elderly people longing for comfort and missing home. But as time passes, she comes to see what really matters in life and between loss and loneliness, we glimpse the unexpected joy in life’s everyday moments.
46. StarKid: The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals – Apollo Theatre (14 – 30 May)
From viral sensation StarKid, this horror-comedy musical follows Paul Matthews, an ordinary guy, whose life is forever changed when the crash landing of an alien entity turns his tiny town of Hatchetfield into the most horrifying nightmare he can imagine… a fully staged musical.
47. High Society – Barbican (19 May – 11 Jul)
Helen George and Felicity Kendall invite you to the most swell party of the year as this summer’s eagerly anticipated production of Cole Porter’s work delivers another glorious dose of Golden Age music theatre escapism.
48. Beetlejuice – Prince Edward Theatre (20 May – 17 Apr 27)
Transferring from Broadway, and based on Tim Burton’s beloved movie classic, this wildly funny – and weirdly life-affirming – musical tells the tale of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager sharing her home with a pair of newly-deads and the demonic ghost with the most, Beetlejuice. He’s dead trouble, but if you really want to feel alive, just say his name three times…
49. Redcliffe – Southwark Playhouse Borough (22 May – 4 Jul)
Set against the backdrop of 18th-century England, the new musical is based on the haunting true story of William Critchard and Richard Arnold in Redcliffe, Bristol and is an epic tale of forbidden love during the persecution people faced for hundreds of years.
50. Driftwood – Kiln Theatre (3 Jun – 4 Jul)
As colonial Trinidad advances towards political independence, a downtown Port of Spain gentlemen’s club becomes entangled in a different kind of custody battle. Driftwood is the first play by Martina Laird. Directed by Chichester Festival Theatre’s Artistic Director Justin Audibert and set in 1950s Caribbean, it’s a deeply evocative story of self-determination and the search for family and belonging.
51. Pride – Dorfman Theatre (11 Jun – 12 Sep)
Summer, 1984. With miners on strike across the country, 24-year-old activist Mark Ashton tries to rally a disparate group of gay men and lesbians into supporting the beleaguered miners. Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) quickly finds itself entwined with a small pit village in South Wales. Pride unites the director and writer of the original film, Matthew Warchus and Stephen Beresford, with composers Christopher Nightingale, Josh Cohen and DJ Walde for this new musical.
52. Springwood – Hampstead Theatre (19 Jun – 25 Jul)
1939. A weekend at a country house. The fate of nations hangs in the balance; King George VI’s single opportunity to convince President Roosevelt to support his country in an impending war is seemingly dependent on whether he and his wife can navigate a public picnic with the decorum and dignity expected of royalty. The weekend marks the first-ever visit of a British monarch to the United States – can the “special relationship” survive a menu of hot dogs and beer? Award-winning actor, presenter, author, and screen director Stanley Tucci makes his London stage directing debut with Springwood.
53. Jesus Christ Superstar – London Palladium (20 Jun – 5 Sep)
The award-winning Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production of Jesus Christ Superstar comes to the iconic London Palladium, starring Sam Ryder as Jesus.
54. Ivanov – Bridge Theatre (4 Jul – 19 Sep)
Nikolai has forgotten how to be happy. Or was he ever? Is it just burnout? Simon Stone brings Chekhov’s keenly observed comic drama hurtling into the contemporary world, starring Chris Pine in his London Stage Debut.
55. The Jonathan Larson Project – Southwark Playhouse Borough (9 Jul – 22 Aug)
An electrifying celebration of the groundbreaking composer behind ‘Rent’ and ‘tick, tick… BOOM!’, it is being re-imagined for London by the original Off Broadway director John Simpkins, marking 30 years since Jonathan Larson’s death in January 1996 from an aortic dissection just one day before Rent’s first performance in New York.
56. Cats – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre (25 Jul – 12 Sep)
From Euston Station to Victoria Grove, the strays and rebels of London gather under the Jellicle moon in the hope they’ll be the chosen one. And each of them asks, because each of them dares, who will it be?
57. Kimberly Akimbo – Hampstead Theatre (28 Aug – 7 Nov)
Kimberly Levaco is excited to celebrate her upcoming sweet 16 – never mind the fact that she looks 74, due to a rare genetic condition prematurely ageing her about four times faster than her friends. This new production is its European premiere after its award-winning Broadway run.
58. Man To Man – Royal Court (5 Sep – 24 Oct)
In 1930s Germany, a woman puts on her dead husband’s trousers and never takes them off. As the world around her changes, she endures war and dictatorship, hunger and humiliation – always fighting to stay alive. Tilda Swinton makes a long-awaited return to the stage as Ella/Max in Manfred Karge’s Man to Man – the role she originated in the acclaimed 1988 UK premiere at the Traverse Theatre and Royal Court.
59. The Afronauts – Royal Court (14 Nov – 19 Dec)
Zambia, 1964: The space race has a new contender. The true(ish) story of the Zambian Space Program, and a nation’s defiant dream to reach for the stars. A world premiere from Sky Arts Award-winning playwright Ryan Calais Cameron.
A stacked year, and these are just the ones we know about! What have you got tickets for?
