Best new theatre: London 2021's shows to catch

Hymn, Almeida Theatre

One of early 2021's exciting offerings comes from writer Lolita Chakrabarti (Red Velvet, 2021's Life of Pi) and director Blanche McIntyre (the RSC's Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare's Globe's The Winter's Tale). Called Hymn, the two-hander concerns itself with two men who meet at a funeral. One knew the deceased, the other did not. But soon, we're told, they'll be 'singing the same tune'.

Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre

Get up, stand up and get ready for reggae as a new musical telling the extraordinary story of Bob Marley has its world premiere in London.

Under Milk Wood, National Theatre

A new production of Dylan Thomas’s 1954 radio drama Under Milk Wood is set to reopen the National’s Olivier theatre on Wednesday 16 June. Directed by Lyndsey Turner (Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Saint George and the Dragon), with additional material by Siân Owen, Under Milk Wood will unite on stage Welsh actors Michael Sheen (The Deal, The Queen), Karl Johnson (Wittgenstein) and Siân Phillips (Hedda Gabler, Saint Joan).

Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre

Fairytales will be reinvented this spring and a drastically different version of Cinderella comes to the West End. And there are some especially talented fairy godmothers (and fathers) bringing this new production to life.

The show is based on an original idea by Emerald Fennell, the Emmy-nominated writer behind Killing Eve season two and upcoming film A Promising Young Woman starring Carey Mulligan. Musical Theatre maestro Andrew Lloyd Webber (Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Evita) is is writing a new score. And lyrics are from David Zippel, who was part of the Oscar-nominated song-writing team in Disney's Hercules and Mulan, and also conquered Broadway with City of Angels and The Woman in White.

Cush Jumbo as Hamlet, Young Vic

A new production of Hamlet, originally scheduled for summer 2020 but postponed until 2021, is refreshing perceptions of the troubled Prince of Denmark. Cush Jumbo makes her Young Vic debut, breaking the reign of white men to play the young Dane.

Anything Goes, Barbican Theatre

Last seen in London some 16 years ago, the multi-award-winning musical Anything Goes is full of joy, fun and excitement, and as such the ideal show to celebrate audiences' release from Covid-19 lockdown… fingers crossed!

After Life, National Theatre

A brand-new stage adaptation of Japanese writer-director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s tender, philosophical 1998 movie After Life reopens the National's Dorfman theatre this June. Reimagined for the stage by three of the industry’s brightest stars – writer Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, A Christmas Carol), director Jeremy Herrin (People, Places and Things) and designer Bunny Christie (The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-time, A Midsummer Night’s Dream) – the production has been co-produced with award-winning theatre company Headlong, whose impactful productions (among them Junkyard and People, Places and Things) have seen Thorne, Herrin and Christie collaborate to critical acclaim in the past.

Life of Pi, Wyndham's Theatre

Life of Pi has enchanted millions across the globe over nearly 20 years. Yann Martel's 2001 novel won the Man Booker Prize, selling over 15 million copies worldwide. It has since enjoyed success on screen and on stage. After a sell-out run at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, Lolita Chakrabarti's dazzling theatre adaptation graces the West End stage from September 2021, having been postponed from 2020.

The Wife of Willesden, Kiln Theatre

Since becoming a literary sensation as a student at Cambridge, Zadie Smith has grown into one of the world's brightest writing talents – and now Smith is venturing into theatre and penning her debut play.

The Wife of Willesden brings Chaucer's mediaeval Canterbury Tales into contemporary Brent. The play is an ode to northwest London, which Smith is writing as a gift for her home borough. And fittingly, it will premiere in the exact area where it is set, at Kilburn's newly re-vamped Kiln Theatre.

Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem, 2021

Jez Butterworth’s smash hit play Jerusalem returns to the stage, after 2019’s sellout five-star premiere and equally lauded West End and Broadaway transfers. Best of all, Mark Rylance will reprise his starring role and Ian Rickson will once again direct.

Romeo and Juliet, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the love story to end all love stories, airs at Regents Park's Open Air Theatre in summer 2021, in a new production by director Kimberley Sykes.

The Seagull, Playhouse 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 will play Nina, the ambitious ingenue at the heart of 1896 play The Seagull.

Jessica Chastain in A Doll's House, Playhouse Theatre

In 2021, Golden Globe winner Jessica Chastain will swap the big screen for the London stage to make her UK theatre debut playing Nora in a new version of Henrik Ibsen's proto-feminist 1879 play A Doll's House, as part of director Jamie Lloyd's residency at the Playhouse Theatre.

Oedipus starring Mark Strong and Helen Mirren

A starry cast assembles to re-invent the Oedipus myth on the West End stage. Helen Mirren and Mark Strong lead a modern, English-language version of Sophocles' tragedy, as re-imagined by visionary theatre-maker Robert Icke. Having been postponed from 2020, the show is expected to open some time in 2021, with the theatre and dates still to be confirmed.

Timothée Chalamet in 4000 Miles, The Old Vic

Hollywood darling Timothée Chalamet makes UK stage debut in Amy Herzog's Pulitzer-nominated play 4000 Miles. Chalamet plays 21-year-old Leo, starring opposite seasoned stage star Elieen Atkins playing his 91-year-old grandmother Vera.

The Book of Dust - La Belle Sauvage, Bridge Theatre

A fantasy Oxford, catastrophic floods and a menagerie of daemons come to the Bridge Theatre as Nicholas Hytner brings Philip Pullman's magic to the stage. La Belle Sauvage the play was due to open in July 2020 and has since been postponed to 2021, more than a decade after Hytner enchanted audiences with the National Theatre production based on Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

Hello Dolly! Adelphi Theatre

Multi Olivier and BAFTA Award winning star Imelda Staunton follows in the footsteps of Barbara Steisand to play Dolly Levi, the meddlesome socialite at the heart of 1964 musical, Hello Dolly!.

This new production is directed by Dominic Cooke, who worked with Staunton in a superlative revival of Follies (National Theatre). Based on Thornton Wilder's farcical plat The Matchmaker, with a book by Michael Stewart (42nd Street) and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman (La Cage aux Folles), Hello Dolly! is an enduring hit with a multi award-winning film version and regular revivals all around the world.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Duke of York's Theatre

Voted the 2013 Book of the Year in the National Book Awards, Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane tells the tale of a boy whose ordinary life encounters the extraordinary. Adapted for the stage by Joel Horwood, this dark fantasy plunges deep into a story about memory, imagination, and growing up. The play transfers to the West End's Duke of York's Theatre following a sell-out premiere at the National Theatre in 2019.

Moulin Rouge! The Musical, London

Get ready for spectacular spectacular: the stage adaptation of Moulin Rouge is transferring to London after impressing on Broadway. Based on Baz Luhrmann's Oscar-winning film, Moulin Rouge! The Musical transports audiences to bohemian romance in Montmartre with a medley of pop's greatest hits. It is due to run at the West End's Piccadilly Theatre from autumn 2021.

Disney's Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Elsa told us to 'Let it go,' but we simply can't. We're still obsessed with Frozen. Now, along with watching the two Frozen films on repeats, Londoners can experience the icy magic live as Disney's musical theatre version of the tale transfers to London after impressing on Broadway.

David Tennant in Good, Harold Pinter Theatre

Former artistic director Dominic Cooke is launching his new theatre company with a bang in a new production of CP Taylor's Good starring David Tennant. Widely regarded as a modern classic and the most significant work about the Holocaust written in English, the 1981 play is a powerful study of morality and extremism.