The best new plays of 2022: London's theatre highlights

Jodie Comer in Prima Facie, Harold Pinter Theatre

She restyled the image of a female assassin with her Emmy and Bafta award-winning portrayal of the off-beat, sexy, fashion-conscious Villanelle in hit BBC series Killing Eve. More recently, she tugged on our heartstrings and tear ducts playing a tough but bone-tired care worker in Jack Thorne’s pandemic drama Help. Now, Jodie Comer makes her West End debut in Australian playwright Suzie Miller’s award-winning play, Prima Facie.

Ruth Wilson in Ivo van Hove’s The Human Voice, Harold Pinter Theatre

Six years after Ruth Wilson starred in Ivo van Hove's critically-acclaimed, thoroughly modern revival of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, the pair collaborate again on Van Hove's adaptation of French writer Jean Cocteau’s The Human Voice.

The Seagull, Harold Pinter Theatre

Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke is swapping her dragons for a seagull as she makes her West End debut in a fresh take on Chekhov. Clarke plays Nina, the ambitious ingenue at the heart of 1896 play The Seagull. The production is the second instalment of the delayed three-play West End residency from the Jamie Lloyd Company.

The Southbury Child, Bridge Theatre

Three-time Olivier award-winning actor Alex Jennings makes his Bridge Theatre debut to play a charming but often inebriated vicar in the world premiere of The Southbury Child by Stephen Beresford (Last of the Haussmans, National Theatre; Fanny and Alexander, Old Vic) .

Moulin Rouge! The Musical, London

Get ready for spectacular spectacular: the stage adaptation of Baz Luhrmann's Oscar-winning film, Moulin Rouge! The Musical has transferred to London after impressing on Broadway. Yanked off stage in its preview period because of Covid cases in the company, Moulin Rouge! is now set to be a highlight of 2022.

Amy Adams in The Glass Menagerie, Duke of York’s Theatre

Six-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams (Nocturnal Animals, Sharp Objects) makes her West End debut in a new production of Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie, directed by Jeremy Herrin (Wolf Hall trilogy, People, Places and Things) and designed by Vicki Mortimer (Follies, Wise Children).

Mike Bartlett’s 'Cock', Ambassadors Theatre

Mike Bartlett's (Albion, Snowflake and BBC’s Doctor Foster) Olivier award-winning 2009 play Cock, a four-hander about a gay man who feels conflicted after falling for a woman, makes its West End debut at the Ambassadors Theatre. Marianne Elliott directs, and Taron Egerton, Jonathan Bailey, Phil Daniels and Jade Anouka star.

Punchdrunk: The Burnt City, Woolwich Works

Punchdrunk, the pioneering producer of large-scale immersive, promenade theatre spectacles, returns to London with its first major show since 2014. At the company’s new headquarters Woolwich Works, audiences can immerse themselves in The Burnt City, a walk-through experience depicting the fall of Troy, set in a future parallel world.

To Kill A Mockingbird, Gielgud Theatre

Aaron Sorkin's smash-hit stage adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird comes to the West End, with Rafe Spall starring as Atticus Finch.

Straight Line Crazy, Bridge Theatre

The trio last collaborated on Beat the Devil, playwright David Hare’s gut-wrenching, autobiographical one-man-show charting his experience of surviving Covid-19. Now the writer, director Nicholas Hytner and actor Ralph Fiennes return to the Bridge Theatre to present the world premiere of Hare’s latest play, Straight Line Crazy.

Wuthering Heights, National Theatre

Emily Brontë’s gothic novel Wuthering Heights comes to the National Theatre in a music and dance-heavy production by Emma Rice’s Wise Children.

The Corn is Green, National Theatre

Welsh playwright Emlyn Wiliiams' semi-autobiographical drama gets its first London revival for 35 years. The story about an inspirational school teacher is revived at the National Theatre with Dominic Cooke (Follies, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) directing and Nicola Walker (TV'sThe Split and Unforgotten) playing the focal Miss Moffat.

Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem, Apollo Theatre

Jez Butterworth’s smash hit play Jerusalem returns to the stage, after 2009’s sellout, five-star premiere and equally lauded West End and Broadaway transfers. Best of all, Mark Rylance and Mackenzie Crook will reprise their starring roles, and Ian Rickson once again directs.

My Fair Lady, London Coliseum

Lerner & Loewe’s long-loved 1956 musical My Fair Lady hasn't been seen on the London stage in 21 years. Putting this right is director Bartlett Sher, who brings his Tony-winning 2018 production from Broadway to the West End in 2022. The revival runs at London Coliseum, with the English National Opera orchestra animating the score.

The Glow, Royal Court Theatre

Playwright Alistair McDowall (X, Pomona) returns to the Royal Court with The Glow, a Victorian-set thriller about a woman who finds herself locked in the windowless cell of an asylum with no memory of who she is or how she arrived there. Vicky Featherstone directs, and Fisayo Akinade, Rakie Ayola, Tadhg Murphy and Ria Zmitrowicz star.

Cyrano de Bergerac, Harold Pinter Theatre

James McAvoy reprises his role in The Jamie Lloyd Company’s Olivier award-winning production of Cyrano De Bergerac, which returns to London in 2022 following a sold-out season at the Playhouse Theatre in 2019.

Oklahoma!, Young Vic Theatre

Director Daniel Fish's dark interpretation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical after premiering on Broadway in 2019. Now the production, with its fresh characterisations and visible violence, is making its mark at the Young Vic Theatre.

Steve, Seven Dials Playhouse

After an intensely challenging two years, the opening (or reopening) of an arts venue is worthy of some fuss. The Actors Centre in Covent Garden, which has remained closed since the start of the pandemic, reopens as the Seven Dials Playhouse. While the venue continues to be a space for creatives to develop work, it hopes to make a name for itself as a leading performance venue.

First up, opening on 8 February, is the European premiere of Mark Gerard’s 2015 play Steve, which debuted at New York's Pershing Square Signature Center, directed by Cynthia Nixon. Jenna Russell (Guys and Dolls, Fun Home) and David Ames (I Am Montana, The Arcola) star, and Andrew Keates (Dark Sublime, Trafalgar Studios) directs.