Best new plays: London 2019 theatre highlights

Betrayal, Harold Pinter Theatre

British actor Tom Hiddleston may be famous all around the world thanks to roles in Thor, The Avengers and The Night Manager. but it's on stage where he's best. He returns to star in Harold Pinter's reversed romantic drama.

All About Eve, Noel Coward Theatre London 2019

Another year, another bold new show by Dutch director Ivo van Hove. This time he joins forces with the luminous Gillian Anderson and bright new star Lily James to bring 1950s film All About Eve to the stage.

Grief is the Thing with Feathers, Barbican Centre Theatre

Culture Whisper travelled to Galway especially to see Cillian Murphy in Grief is a Thing with Feathers. London theatre fans will be delighted to learn the show will transfer to the Barbican – and that that it was well worth our long journey.

Death of a Salesman, Young Vic

Arthur Miller's masterful, Pulitzer-winning 1949 play Death of a Salesman is re-told from the perspective of an African American family. Director Marianne Elliott brings a new vision to this mainstay of American drama.

Dear Evan Hansen, Noel Coward Theatre

Teenage dreams are about to come true as a smash hit Broadway musical about adolescence transfers to London. Dear Evan Hansen is the heartfelt story of a misfit who accidentally becomes a social media sensation. The show stormed Broadway, scooping six Tony Awards and a Grammy.

the end of history..., Royal Court Theatre 2019

Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, the dream team behind Harry Potter and The Cursed Child and Let the Right One In, return to the Royal Court for an enigmatic new domestic drama.

All My Sons, Old Vic Theatre

Distinguished talents and risings stars come together in The Old Vic's All My Sons. Sally Field, Jenna Coleman, Bill Pullman and Colin Morgan star in a revival of Arthur Miller's masterful 1947 story of suburban sadness, guilt and the failure of the American dream.

Mary Poppins, Prince Edward Theatre London

Get ready for a flurry of kites, jolly holidays and spoons full of sugar as everyone's favourite nanny flies back onto the London stage. Fifteen years after its impressive premiere, Disney's stage show Mary Poppins returns to its original home on the West End.

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Bridge Theatre

It wouldn't be summer without a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. 2019 brings an immersive take on Shakespeare's madcap comedy as Nicholas Hytner invites audiences into an enchanted forest at the Bridge Theatre.

Top Girls, National Theatre

Female ambition takes centre stage as Caryl Churchill's seminal 1982 play Top Girls comes to the Lyttelton stage. Lyndsey Turner directs the National Theatre revival.

Bitter Wheat, Garrick Theatre

America's sharpest, fastest talking living writer has spoken up about the #MeToo scandal: David Mamet's Bitter Wheat revolves around a monstrous Hollywood producer based on Harvey Weinstein. John Malkovich returns to the stage after a 33-year absence to star.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Fleabag, Wyndham's Theatre

Before the Hot Priest and obnoxious God Mother, before the BAFTAs and Broadway transfers, before Bond, Star Wars and Villanelle, Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag started out on stage. And she's coming back for a final farewell performance of the original 2013, starring Waller-Bridge herself.

The Man in the White Suit, Wyndham's Theatre

Double Olivier Award-winning actor, director and writer Sean Foley is back in the West End with an adapted version of the classic 1951 Ealing studios comedy, The Man in the White Suit, starring Stephen Mangan.

Present Laughter, Old Vic Theatre

Andrew Scott returns to the stage to play the part that Noel Coward wrote for himself. Garry Essendine, the narcissistic hero of Present Laughter, is one of Coward's best-loved creations. Scott will don silk pajamas to play the charming matinee idol in a revival of the 1942 comedy at The Old Vic.

The Starry Messenger, Wyndham's Theatre

A reflective new production coming to Wyndham’s Theatre is jam-packed with stars. Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller’Day Off, The Producers) makes his West End debut alongside Elizabeth McGovern (taking a break from the much-awaited Downton Abbey film) in The Starry Messenger, a play by Oscar-winning writer Kenneth Lonergan.

Night of the Iguana, Noel Coward Theatre

Clive Owen returns to the stage after 18 years to star in a strange and lesser-known Tennessee Williams play, the tropically-tinged Night of the Iguana.