Best new theatre shows: London, October 2023
From the chance to see Lily James opposite Kristin Scott Thomas, to a dose of Shakespeare from the maestro Kenneth Branagh, the hottest theatre to book now
Lyonesse, Harold Pinter Theatre
Kristin Scott Thomas (Darkest Hour) and Lily James (Pam & Tommy) are transferring their screen chemistry to the stage as they lead the cast of Penelope Skinner's (The Village Bike) new play Lyonesse. The prestige of the production continues off stage too, with Ian Rickson (Jerusalem) lined up to direct. It reunites the director with Scott Thomas for the first time since their critically acclaimed production of The Seagull, which won Scott Thomas an Olivier award 16 years ago.
Read more ...Hamnet, Garrick Theatre
Lolita Chakrabarti's (Life of Pi, Hymn) adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel Hamnet comes to the West End, following an initial run at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Set in Warwickshire, 1582, the play charts the death of Shakespeare's 11-year-old son Hamnet – an event that eventually led to the Bard writing his famous tragedy Hamlet in his son's memory.
Read more ...Clyde's, Donmar Warehouse
Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (The Secret Life of Bees, Mlima's Tale) brings her 2021 play Clyde's to the London stage for the first time this autumn. The production unites the playwright with director Lynette Linton (Blues for an Alabama Sky), who helmed 2018/19's critically acclaimed production of Nottage's Sweat, also at the Donmar Warehouse, then In the West End.
Read more ...King Lear, Wyndham's Theatre
Kenneth Branagh is one of Britain's most notorious actors and directors of Shakespeare, but it's been almost a decade since his last production, a critically acclaimed take on The Winter's Tale, graced the London stage. The screen has kept him busy in the interim, of course, with movie hits including his semi-personal, black-and-white flick Belfast. But we're happy to have him back this autumn, directing and starring as the lead role in King Lear.
Read more ...The Confessions, National Theatre
NT regular Alexander Zeldin (LOVE, Faith, Hope and Charity) is back at the theatre with a play that follows one woman, Alice, for eight decades and from Australia in 1943 to London in 2021. An 'intimate' story, it's the product of hours of interviews between Alexander and his mother. It ran at the Avignon Festival in France earlier this year, but this marks its first UK outing.
Read more ...Portia Coughlan, Almeida Theatre
Marina Carr's 1996 play about a young woman haunted by her past as her 30th birthday approaches is revived in a new production directed by Carrie Cracknell (Julie) and starring Alison Oliver (Women, Beware the Devil, Conversations With Friends).
Read more ...Dear England, Prince Edward Theatre
Following a celebrated run at the National Theatre, James Graham's play about football star Gareth Southgate, who as manager of the England men's team reformed it for the better, transfers to the West End, with Joseph Fiennes reprising his starring role.
Boy Parts, Soho Theatre
Gillian Greer adapts Eliza Clark's novel Boy Parts for the stage. A gender-flipped psychological thriller, it follows a female photographer who stalks her male sitters. Sara Joyce (Dust) directs.
Read more ...The Empress, Lyric Hammersmith
Pooja Ghail directs this revival of Tanika Gupta's play about Indian immigrants who take their dreams to Britain during the 'Golden Era' of the Empire. The show comes to London following a run at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Read more ...Manic Street Creature, Southwark Playhouse Borough
Rising musician, singer and stage star Maimuna Memon (Olivier Award-winning Standing at the Sky’s Edge) is bringing her Edinburgh Fringe hit Manic Street Creature to Southwark Playhouse. It follows Ria, a musician looking to chart the giddy promise and eventual heartbreak of a recent relationship through her latest album. But when she gets sucked back into those euphoric then painful feelings, her troubled past threatens to unsettle her present.
Read more ...The Boy, Soho Theatre
London-based writer Joakim Daun, himself a migrant, explores the young refugee experience and the non-biological families formed in a crisis with his latest play, The Boy. The character of the play's title is on a journey to flee his past when his life becomes inextricably linked with that of an older man and a young woman, also escaping their own personal losses.
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