A star-gazer's guide to London theatre: famous actors on stage

Sarah Snook's multi-rolling masterpiece

Succession's Sarah Snook is swapping her ruthless role in the Roy family's media empire to play all 26 characters in Oscar Wilde's frequently referenced story about an eternally youthful man about town, with a portrait ageing up in his attic.

Woody Harrelson's black comedy

A new production of David Ireland's explosive black comedy Ulster American comes to Riverside Studios this winter, with Hollywood long-timer Woody Harrelson (Cheers, The Hunger Games) playing the part of an Oscar-winning actor. He's joined by Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings) as a theatre director and Louisa Harland (Derry Girls) as a Northern Irish playwright in the story that sees the trio sit down to rehearse a new play, only to realise they're not on the same page.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, side by side

And just like that… Sarah Jessica Parker makes her West End debut, starring opposite her real-life husband Matthew Broderick in Neil Simon’s 1968 rom-com Plaza Suite. Broderick is a stage star in his own right, but perhaps more widely known for playing the titular character in hit 1986 movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Kenneth Branagh as Shakespeare's misguided king

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.

Lily James and Kristin Scott Thomas share the stage

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.

Nicole Scherzinger is a faded star on a comeback

Jamie Lloyd's Sunset Boulevard revival, fronted by Nicole Scherzinger, is both a homage to the black-and-white movie and a thrilling feat for tech on stage.

Mark Gatiss and Johnny Flynn in a play about a play

Mark Gatiss and Johnny Flynn are riveting in The Motive and the Cue: Jack Thorne's study of the famous Gielgud/Burton Hamlet, directed here by Sam Mendes.

Brian Cox in a Eugene O'Neill classic

Brian Cox returns to the West End for the first time in almost a decade to star in Jeremy Herrin’s starry revival of Long Day’s Journey into Night.

Ian McKellen goes dog walking

It's undoubtedly the star billing that makes Ben Weatherill's play about two elderly gentlemen whose friendship blossoms into romance over long dog walks on Hampstead Heath such an enticing prospect. The indomitable Ian McKellen plays Percy, the proudly single, openly gay half of the duo. Roger Allam (The Moderate Soprano, Rutherford and Son) plays the widowed Frank, who before meeting Percy identified as straight.

Matt Smith becomes public enemy number one

We last saw him on stage in 2019, when he reunited with his co-star from The Crown Claire Foy for a revival of Duncan Macmillan's play Lungs. Now, the former face of Doctor Who is returning to theatre to star in a West End production of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People.

David Tennant takes a murderous turn

He famously played Hamlet in Gregory Doran's 2008 production for the RSC (earning acclaim beyond the stage when it was turned into a film the following year), and now screen star David Tennant is to play the role of Shakespeare's murderous Scottish general in a production of Macbeth set to see the curtain fall on the Donmar Warehouse's 30th-birthday season.

Opposite him is Cush Jumbo, who recently delivered a soaring performance as a norm-defying Hamlet in the Young Vic’s acclaimed production, directed by Greg Hersov.

Harriet Walter brings her daughters down with her

Alice Birch ([BLANK]) is behind this new adaptation of Federico García Lorca's play about a grieving, domineering mother who forces her five daughters into an extended period of mourning. What's more, Rebecca Frecknall (A Streetcar Named Desire) is directing it. Topping off what's already set to be an exciting production is the fact that Harriet Walter (Succession, Killing Eve) is leading the cast as the titular matriarch.

Joseph Fiennes is football crazy

Following a celebrated run at the National Theatre, James Graham's heartwarming play about England football manager Gareth Southgate and his reformation of the men's team transfers to the West End, with Joseph Fiennes reprising his starring role.

Sheridan Smith in Opening Night, Gielgud Theatre

Sheridan Smith returns to the West End to star in Rufus Wainwright's new musical Opening Night, based on John Cassavetes' 1977 film. Ivo van Hove directs the production, and has written the book to accompany Wainwright's music and lyrics.

Steve Coogan in Doctor Strangelove, Noel Coward Theatre

Steve Coogan, he who most famously gave us Alan Partridge, is reuniting with his frequent collaborator Armando Iannucci (Veep, The Thick of It) for a hotly anticipated stage adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 war comedy, Dr. Strangelove. The production marks the first time the Kubrick estate has allowed a state adaptation of any of its films. The play is set to come to the West End stage in autumn 2024, with Sean Foley in the director's chair.