London theatre: the best plays and shows on now
From Hamilton to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, this is our regularly updated guide to the best plays and musicals in the West End and beyond
Humble Boy ★★★★☆
Where: Orange Tree Thetare
Address: 1 Clarence St, Richmond TW9 2SA
Booking Until: April 14
In a nutshell: "A splendid revival of Charlotte Jones's 2001 play, a sort of Cotswolds Hamlet in which a Cambridge astrophysicist mourning the death of his beekeeping father must endure his monstrous mother’s affections for a local flash Harry. Both very clever and very funny, Jones's crisp, rhythmical dialogue mixes reflections on grief with discussions of super-string theory. It's a modern classic." Read the full review
The Grinning Man ★★★★☆
Where: Trafalgar Studios (Studio One)
Address: 14 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2DY
Booking until: April 14
In a nutshell: "This pungent, grimacing musical fairy tale, based on a Victor Hugo novel, is directed by Tom Morris, still known most for his global smash hit War Horse. It's a dark-harted Christmas treat: the story of Grinpayne, an orphan who as a boy was scarred forever when an unknown assailant carved a smile onto his face." Read the full review
The Birthday Party ★★★★★
Where: Harold Pinter Theatre
Address: 6 Panton Street, London, SW1Y 4DN
Booking until: April 14
In a nutshell: "Harold Pinter’s comedy of psychological receives a superlative 60th anniversary revival from Ian Rickson. Not a line is wasted by a cast that includes Zoë Wanamaker as the fragile housekeeper, Stephen Mangan as one of two sinister interlopers and Toby Jones as a desperately lost man-child lodger." Read the full review
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Julius Caesar ★★★★☆
Where: Bridge Theatre
Address: 3 Potters Fields Park, SE1 2SG
Until: April 15
In a nutshell: "Director Nicholas Hytner brings us a Julius Caesar that plugs into the turbulent age of Trump. And what a mighty body of actors Hytner has assembled for the leads: David Morrissey as Mark Antony, Ben Whishaw as Brutus, Michelle Fairley (Lady Stark in Game of Thrones, among other credits) – as Cassius, and RSC veteran David Calder as the assumed tyrant who must be felled." Read the full review
The Book of Mormon ★★★★★
Where: Prince of Wales Theatre
Address: Coventry St, London, W1D 6AS
Booking until: April 28
"The songs may not be memorable, but it is exuberant, and, like the colourful extravaganza that the Africans put on at the end (stringing together all of the lies the naughty Mormon has told them) it works in a way that is rather mystifying." Read the full review
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Amadeus ★★★★★
Where: Olivier Theatre, National Theatre
Address: Upper Ground, South Bank, London SE1 9PX
Until: April 24
In a nutshell:"Shaffer’s riveting 1979 psychodrama, probably known to most from the 1984 film, takes the form of a deathbed confessional from Salieri, the foreign-born court composer to Austria’s snooty, Imperial court tormented by the way he engineered Mozart’s fatal descent into penury and madness at the age of 35." Read the full review
Frozen ★★★☆☆
Where: Theatre Royal Haymarket
Address: 18 Suffolk St, SW1Y 4HT
Until: May 5
In a nutshell:"Doctor Foster star Suranne Jones takes top billing in the West End for the first time, starring as Nancy, the mother of a girl who’s abducted, abused and killed by a paedophile in Bryony Lavery’s award-winning 1998 play. Jones doesn't disappoint, but the night – provocatively – belongs to Jason Watkins, who gives one of the finest performances of his career as the serial child-killer." Read the full review
The Best Man ★★★★☆
Where: Playhouse Theatre
Address: Northumberland Avenue, London, WC2N 5DE
Until: May 12
In a nutshell:"Watching Gore Vidal's 1960 political satire, it's a surprise is just how much pertains to America today – and, indirectly, ourselves: just what does it take to get in the running for the top job? It's set in that two candidates' hotel suites that become nests of intrigue as the crucial convention approaches." Read the full review
The Inheritance ★★★★★
Where: Young Vic
Address: 66 The Cut, Waterloo, London SE1 8LZ
Until: May 19
In a nutshell: "This emotionally shattering six-hour epic (in two parts) may be the most important American play of the century so far. A young American man is attempting to find a route into ‘his’ story about his friends. Enter the figure – stiff, suited, Edwardian English – of EM Forster like a creative-writing fairy-godfather, who spurs the youth into an act of appropriation. What begins as a larky, camply arch ‘work-shop’ (like a Greenwich Village answer to Hector’s lessons in The History Boys) draws you into a richly imagined world that has the innate thrill of a page-turner." Read the full review
The Ferryman ★★★★★
Where: Gielgud Theatre
Address: Shaftesbury Avenue, Soho, London W1D 6AR
Until: May 19
In a nutshell: "British playwriting’s king-pin Jez Butterworth (Jerusalem) serves up the full Irish in The Ferryman, taking us to Armagh and the harvest of late August 1981 – time of ongoing Troubles, height of the Hunger Strikes – with director Sam Mendes bringing it to table with élan and a crack ensemble... The suspenseful plot hinges on the grisly discovery of a 10-years-absent brother, opening the door to sinister overtures from menacing members of the IRA... miss this and you've missed a marvel." Read the full review
The Way of the World ★★★☆☆
Where:Donmar Warehouse
Address: 41 Earlham St, London WC2H 9LX
Until: May 26
In a nutshell: "A serviceable revival of William Congreve's knotty 1700 Restoration comedy, with a tremendous supporting performance from Fisayo Akinade as the bumpkin-esque Sir Wilfull Witwoud. It's incredibly hard to follow, but that's partly a reflection of the world as Congreve saw it: beset by calculation and subterfuge." Read the full review
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Brief Encounter ★★★★☆
Where: Empire Cinema, Haymarket
Address: 63-65 Haymarket, St. James's, SW1Y 4RL
Booking until: September 2
In a nutshell: "Emma Rice's wonderfully romantic musical rendering of Noël Coward and David Lean's classic film - in which two strangers fall in fleeting love – returns to the West End. Staged in a Twenties' cinema, this production combines the magic of the silver screen with the camaraderie of theatre." Read the full review
Witness for the Prosecution ★★★★☆
Where: London County Hall
Address: Belvedere Road, London, SE1 7PB
Booking until: September 16
In a nutshell: "Lucy Bailey directs this entertaining adaptation of Agatha Christie's Twenties courtroom murder mystery, in which a man is accused of killing a widow in order to inherit her wealth. Staged in chambers at London's magnificent County Hall, this production puts the audience right at the heart of the action." Read the full review
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Dreamgirls ★★★★☆
Where: The Savoy Theatre
Address: Savoy Court, Strand, London WC2R 0ET
Booking until: September 22
In a nutshell: "What does this show fundamentally offer? Tremendous gusto of soul and gaiety of spirit. Given the sort of jittery year we’ve had, who’d not want a piece of that?" Read the full review
Aladdin ★★★☆☆
Where: Prince Edward Theatre
Address: Old Compton St, Soho, London W1D 4HS
Booking until: September 29
In a nutshell: "There are some good gags and serviceable work from other leads, Jade Ewen’s plucky Jasmine and Don Gallagher’s cackling villain Jafar among them. The flying carpet hovers without a hitch. But you don’t need to be a patriotic nut to miss old Widow Twankey, Wishy-Washy and the time-honoured British slant on this tale." Read the full review
Young Frankenstein ★★★★☆
Where: Garrick Theatre
Address: 2 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0HH
Booking until: September 29
In a nutshell: "At the age of 91, Mel Brooks is still making people howl with laughter. Howl, you might say, like werewolves. Audiences are rising to their feet in thanks for the mirth he has given the world over the years, and for what he has now done with Young Frankenstein, his celebrated spoof Thirties horror film. So what has he done? Well, stuck songs in it, obviously. This is an entertaining musical rehash of a celluloid comedy masterpiece." Read the full review
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The Lion King ★★★★☆
Where: Lyceum Theatre
Address: 21 Wellington St, London WC2E 7RQ
Booking until: September 30
In a nutshell: "In theory it should all feel contrived - you've got Elton John and Tim Rice's anthemic pop efforts sharing the same terrain as earthy, soul-stirring African arrangements. The human presence creating the animal magic is openly signalled in the costumes and puppetry. And yet, for all that calculation, the over-riding impression is one of freshness – of potentially incongruous elements flowing together quite naturally." Read the full review
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie ★★★★☆
Where: Apollo Theatre
Address: 31 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 7ES
Booking until: October 6
In a nutshell:"Is Everybody’s Talking About Jamie the new Billy Elliot for our times? It tells the story of Jamie New (John McCrea: sharp, sassy, and delightfully out there and vulnerable), a gay teenager at a northern comprehensive, who, platinum-blond cropped hair shining like a beacon, decides to make his name as a transvestite." Read the full review
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Les Misérables ★★★☆☆
Where: Queen's Theatre
Address: 51 Shaftesbury Ave, Soho, London W1D 6BA
Booking until: October 20
In a nutshell: "The long evening commands respect for its size, scale of ambition and great Gallic reservoirs of rousing bombast. Yet aside from a handful of numbers, mostly concentrated early on, genuine pathos gets lost in the hurly-burly of undistinguished, if dramatically efficient, bits of filler music." Read the full review
42nd Street ★★★★☆
Where: Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Address: Catherine Street, London, WC2B 5JF
Booking Until: November 29
In a nutshell: "42nd Street is the tyrannosaurus rex of tap-dancing. What its creators did back in the day (1980) was take a neglected Warner Bros 1933 classic, strip it down its essentials with only residual traces of the originating novel, and stuff in as many pleasure-giving songs from the gilded back-catalogue of Harry Warren and Al Dubin as possible, including that Depression-era paean to newfound wealth, We’re In the Money... This is an American classic right royally revived. I loved it in the way one can’t help loving achingly beautiful things." Read the full review
Hamilton ★★★★★
Where: Victoria Palace Theatre
Address: 126 Victoria Street, SW1E 5EA
Booking until: December 15
In a nutshell:"Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical phenomenon – the most talked-about musical of the century – retells the life and times of Alexander Hamilton (c1755 – 1804), first Secretary of the US Treasury, using a predominantly non-white cast and a welter of rap music." Read the full review
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Motown the Musical ★★★★☆
Where: Shaftsbury Theatre
Address: 210 Shaftesbury Ave, London WC2H 8DP
Booking until:January 5, 2019
In a nutshell: "Never mind the sometimes clunky script – superb performances and a gilded back-catalogue make this musical an urgent rallying cry for us all to rediscover our Motown mojo." Read the full review
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ★★★★★
Where: Palace Theatre
Address: Shaftesbury Ave, London W1D 5AY
Booking until: January 13, 2019
In a nutshell: "Tremors of excitement at the premiere of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – the first Potter play, and the eighth story in the publishing phenomenon that made J K Rowling’s name and fortune – are being felt across the world... The big news is that this is just what was needed, will raise the benchmark for family entertainment for years to come and may even usher in a whole cycle of Potter-world stories." Read the full review
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School of Rock ★★★★★
Where: New London Theatre
Address: 166 Drury Lane, London, WC2B 5PW
Booking until: January 13, 2019
In a nutshell: "Andrew Lloyd Webber and Julian Fellowes have made the grade in turning this much-loved 2003 Hollywood comedy into a musical. The stage version cleaves closely to the celluloid storyline, following the misadventures of Dewey Finn, a rock-loving slob who wangles an illicit gig as a supply teacher (faking his best friend’s identity) at a posh prep school. Once there, he courts the risk of exposure while giving his over-regimented charges a liberating education in rock... It's the most enjoyable few hours money can buy." Read the full review
Matilda: The Musical ★★★★★
Where: Cambridge Theatre
Address: 32-34 Earlham Street, London, WC2H 9HU
Booking until: February 10, 2019
In a nutshell: "The RSC’s hilarious, moving and magical production of Matilda has now arrived in the West End, where I suspect it will delight audiences for years to come... It is the best new British musical since Billy Elliot. Dennis Kelly has adapted Roald Dahl's famous story for the stage, while Aussie comedian Tim Minchin has come up with a smashing score that combines take-home melodies with delicious lyrical wit."
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Wicked ★★★☆☆
Where: Apollo Victoria Theatre
Address: 17 Wilton Rd, Pimlico, London SW1V 1LG
Booking until: May 25, 2019
In a nutshell: "No one could accuse Wicked of being a great musical - indeed at times it's a bit of a mess - but it proves far more enjoyable than I had dared to hope, and deserves a wider audience than adolescent schoolgirls." Read the full review
