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Summer is here and although the London theatre season is starting to slow down a bit – August is, famously, not a busy month – we still have more exciting new shows opening in July than any other city in the country, if not the world.
The highlight of July is always the London Palladium’s big musical: following last year’s blockbuster Evita, we have another Andrew Lloyd Webber classic in the spot. And there’s plenty more besides, of all shapes and sizes, from a rare revival of Sarah Kane’s greatest and most disturbing play to the return of the beloved Yard Theatre with a brace of weird indie shows that’ll melt your brain. Read on for all the month’s theatrical essentials.
The best new London theatre shows opening in July 2026
1. Jesus Christ Superstar
Eurovision winner Sam Ryder may or may not seem like a random choice to front the summer’s biggest musical, but he more than deserves a chance to prove himself. The show in question is a revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar – with Ryder as JC – and we basically know it’s good already because it’s a reworking of Timothy Sheader’s superb 2016 Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production. Its wackiest flourish is a rotating selection of celebrity King Herods: Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Simon Russell Beale, Richard Armitage, Boy George, Layton Williams and Julian Clary will be sharing the role over the summer, with a different set of performers lined up for its transfer to Theatre Royal Drury Lane in the autumn.
London Palladium: now until Sep 5. Buy tickets here.
Theatre Royal Drury Lane: Oct 16-Jan 9 2027. Buy tickets here.
2. Cleansed
The last time Sarah Kane’s extraordinary, sickening masterpiece Cleansed was staged in London was a National Theatre production so intense that audience members were fainting every night. Maybe the superb Rebecca Frecknall’s final production for the Almeida will be a little easier going. But don’t count on it: fundamentally, Kane’s visionary and horrifying drama about love and torture is about as extreme as theatre gets.
Almeida Theatre, Jul 21-Aug 29.
3. The Oresteia
Aussie wunderkind Simon Stone is practically the Bridge Theatre’s in-house director these days. Admittedly, part of the reason he’s doing three shows in three years there is because he obligingly pulled The Oresteia out of the bag to replace his planned production of Chekhov’s Platanov, which was meant to open this month and has now been shoved back by a year due to its star Chris Pine’s schedule. The Oresteia is, of course, an Ancient Greek legend best known for Aeschylus' stage version. But expect a typically radical rewriting of the story of Orestes’ bloody revenge on his mother Clytemnestra for the murder of his father Agamemnon. Stone always pulls off some pretty fancy casting: The Oresteia will be headed by David Morrissey and – in her UK stage debut – Mary-Louise Parker.
Bridge Theatre, Jul 3-Sep 19. Buy tickets here.
4. Trainspotting the Musical
Irvine Welsh’s nihilistic, strictly adults-only Scots literature classic Trainspotting is not obvious material for a musical. But this does seem like a fairly unusual musical, with songs co-written by Welsh himself and a limited run only at the Haymarket. It’ll follow the immortal skag-addled mishaps of Renton, Begbie etc and Welsh’s original songs will be augmented by a selection of the undoubted bangers from Danny Boyle’s classic film, which reassuringly appears to be being used as a point of reference.
Theatre Royal Haymarket, Jul 15-Sep 5. Buy tickets here.
5. Philosophy of the World/The World is Full of Married Men
After a year of upgrades, Time Out’s favourite fringe theatre The Yard returns in July, and its fancy new building and Arts Council funding mean it’s probably now too big a deal to count as a fringe theatre. But while there are some notably bigger shows later on in the season – see especially Lear, starring Ian McKellen – its first two back are gloriously uncompromising. First, London gets a look at Philosophy of the World, In Bed with My Brother’s truly out-there drama about rock eccentrics The Shaggs. Then, a UK debut for cult Swedish theatremaker Malmö Dockteater’s The World is Full of Married Men, a Jackie Collins adaptation performed by Barbie dolls (!).
Philosophy of the World: Yard Theatre, Jul 14-25.
The World is Full of Married Men: Yard Theatre, Jul 21-Aug 1.
6. Malory Towers
Emma Rice’s adaptation of Enid Blyton’s girls’ boarding school novels may well be the very last theatre production delayed by the pandemic to finally limp its way into London debut. Six years after it was meant to have played a summer season at the Southbank Centre, Malory Towers arrives in London, and for lovers of Rice it’ll be a treat, taking Blyton’s jolly hockey sticks tales and adding a typical air of weirdness and post-war poignancy.
Alexandra Palace Theatre, Jul 22-Aug 2. Buy tickets here.
7. Midnight at the Never Get
This chamber musical comes from Mark Sonnenblick, who is probably best known in the UK as one of the co-writers of KPop Demon Hunters’ inescapable 2025 hit ‘Golden’. That’s kind of exciting in its own right, but the real draw in this story of illicit gay love in ’60s New York is the casting of Ben Platt. Best known as the original Broadway lead of Dear Evan Hansen, he did a very short run in a concert version of The Last Five Years at the Palladium earlier this year, but this marks his ‘proper’ UK debut in a full-run, fully staged show.
Menier Chocolate Factory, Jul 11-Sep 12.
8. Tao of Glass
A deliciously esoteric project here from @sohoplace, which gives over its entire summer to Tao of Glass. A highly theatrical staging of ‘ten meditations on life, death and Taoist wisdom’ by Brit theatre legend Phelim McDermott (best known now for his smash staging of My Neighbour Totoro), it’s set to 10 specially written pieces from the legendary US avant-garde composer Philip Glass. The show premiered in Manchester back in 2019 to warm reviews, and now it finally gets a London run – a genuinely bold and thrilling piece of programming.
@sohoplace, Jul 25-Sep 12. Buy tickets here.
9. Secret Cinema’s Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical
In an age where it increasingly feels like London’s immersive theatre glory days are behind it, Secret Cinema remains a reassuring constant. Last summer’s spectacular Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical brought joy to those summer nights of 2025, and it’ll do so again this summer, this time with the curious bonus of Ricky Wilson from the Kaiser Chiefs as the ‘live’ Teen Angel (the show combines a screening of the film with live actors). If Grease isn’t so much your bag, then Secret Cinema will return early next year with an all-new show based on Pirates of the Caribbean.
Evolution London (Battersea Park), Jul 22-Sep 13. Buy tickets here.
10. Here Comes J Edgar Hoover
This is a curious ‘new’ musical, a satire on the life of the vindictive, machiavellian, probably closeted FBI director who dominated America’s twentieth century. Impressively for a world premiere at the comparatively small King’s Head, it’s written by Spinal Tap and Simpsons legend Harry Shearer, Cheers and Seinfeld writer Tom Leopold, and Barbara Streisand’s musical director, Peter Matz. The fact Matz died over 20 years ago suggests Here Comes J Edgar Hoover! has had a torturous development, but if you’re a fan of anyone involved, it’s worth a look – not least because of the very decent lead in the shape of Bryan Batt from Mad Men.
King’s Head Theatre, Jul 10-Aug 16.
The best new London theatre openings to book for in 2026.
Plus: blockbuster Studio Ghibli stage adaptation Spirited Away will be returning to London.
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