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Where other arts slow down in December, London theatre accelerates frenziedly, and it’s a curiosity of the season that while there are gazillions of pantos and explicitly Christmas-themed family productions, it’s also the busiest time of year for ‘regular’ shows.
If you’re after a panto or something to take the kids to, then do check out our respective lists. But there’s an abundance of serious dramas, world class comedies and cool indie plays debuting this month – here’s our guide to the best non-tinselly openings in town this month.
The best new London theatre shows opening in December 2025
1. Oh, Mary!
There are lots of significant plays opening in December but no massive blockbusters – the year’s biggest show Paddington snuck in on the very last day of November. Still, Oh, Mary! is a pretty darn heavy hitter, and much anticipated to boot, being a transfer of Cole Escola’s outrageous Broadway comedy about Abraham Lincoln’s embittered, fame-hungry wife Mary. Giles Terera stars as Abe, with US performer Mason Alexander Park – great in supporting roles in recent Jamie Lloyd productions – stepping up to the lead role of Mary.
Trafalgar Theatre, Dec 3-Apr 25 2026. Buy tickets here.
2. Into the Woods
Since Stephen Sondheim’s death we’ve had a revue show celebrating his career and even the premiere of his final musical. What we’ve not had is any major revivals of his classics, but that finally changes with this lavish Bridge revival of his beloved ’80s hit Into the Woods. The arch interrogation of fairytales is directed by Jordan Fein, who did such a tremendous job with the Open Air Theatre’s Fiddler on the Roof, while a dazzling cast ranges from established talents like Kate Fleetwood and Katie Brayben to exciting up-and-comers like Chumisa Dornford-May and Bella Brown.
Bridge Theatre, Dec 2-Apr 18 2026. Buy tickets here.
3. Indian Ink
The death of Tom Stoppard was a shock: 88 was a decent age of course, but despite his years he still seemed so vigorous. Stoppard’s last play Leopoldstadt only premiered five years ago, and he was enthusiastically supportive of Hampstead Theatre’s recent run of revivals of his works - Rock ‘n’ Roll, The Invention of Love, and now 1995’s Indian Ink, which will open less than a month after his passing. It is, naturally, a clever play contrasting Western and Indian art and culture. It’s divided into two timelines: in the earlier one, progressive English poet Flora Crewe throws herself into India during the last days of the Raj; in the other, set years later, an American academic tracks down her sister Mrs Swan to the bottom of Flora’s disappearance decades ago. Felicity Kendal plays Mrs Swan, having played Flora in the original production.
Hampstead Theatre, Dec 3-Jan 31 2026. Buy tickets here.
4. Christmas Day
Playwright Sam Grabiner had a dream start to his professional career last year with his hugely acclaimed, Olivier-winning debut play Boys on the Verge of Tears, which was a winner before it was even staged thanks to it attracting the patronage of heavyweight director James Macdonald. Now the two join forces once again for Grabiner’s second play, an intriguing dark comedy with a great cast about a Jewish family gathering in an abandoned building on December 25.
Almeida Theatre, Dec 9-Jan 8 2026.
5. Bluey’s Big Play/Top Hat/Evita Too
The Southbank Centre has a very good – not to mention varied – offering this Christmas. Parents and little ones will doubtless be delighted by the return of Bluey’s enjoyable stage outing Bluey’s Big Play; the Queen Elizabeth Hall boasts the London transfer of the Chichester Festival Theatre’s acclaimed revival of deliciously frothy nostalgia musical Top Hat; and then in the Purcell Room it’s Time Out faves Sh!t Theatre with a souped up version of their 2022 show Evita Too, a very funny and sometimes very poignant docu-theatre romp loosely centred on their efforts to track down Argentina’s forgotten female president Isabel Perón.
Bluey’s Big Play is at the Royal Festival Hall, Dec 18-Jan 11 2026. Buy tickets here.
Top Hat is at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Dec 12-Jan 17. Buy tickets here.
Evita Too is at the Purcell Room, Dec 9-31.
6. Paranormal Activity
West End adaptations of cult horror films don’t have the strongest pedigree. But there’s reason to be hopeful for this stage reimagining of the Paranormal Activity franchise. A brand new story by playwright Levi Holloway with a thematic rather than literal connection to the films, the real USP is that it’s directed by Felix Barrett of the visionary immersive theatre company Punchdrunk. Reports from a run in Leeds last year and a recent US tour suggest it really is pretty damn scary. Gulp!
Ambassadors Theatre, Dec 5-Feb 28 2026. Buy tickets here.
7. Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Years ago I randomly caught US playwright Rajiv Joseph’s Pulitzer-nominated play about the chaos of US-occupied Iraq when it ran on Broadway, with the late, great Robin Williams in the role of the titular tiger, an escapee from the capital’s zoo who runs into a pair of confused GIs. It was very good! With Joseph coming into fashion over here at last, it makes its UK debut this Christmas in a production helmed by the wonderfully tricksy Omar Elerian, starring David Threlfall and Arinzé Kene.
Young Vic, Dec 2-Jan 31 2026. Buy tickets here.
8. Pinocchio
Call it climate change or call it outrageous chutzpah from the Globe, but Pinocchio is not only the first musical the iconic theatre has staged, but the first full-length outdoor show it has put on during the winter. Whether this proves to be a good move from a meteorological perspective, the show looks great, as Sean Holmes directs a creative team of writer Charlie Josephine and composer Jim Fortune as they bring the fairy story – not the weird Disney film, but the even weirder Carlo Collodi original book – to the stage.
Shakespeare’s Globe, now until Jan 4 2026. Buy tickets here.
9. Twelfth Night
The RSC only tends to send a single Shakespeare play a year down to its old London home the Barbican. This year it’s Prasanna Puwanarajah’s by all accounts sumptuously magical take on Twelfth Night, which comes with new songs by Matt Maltese and a fine cast headed by Freema Agyeman as Olivia and Sam West as Malvolio. If it feels like we’re not getting some of the wilder, bolder shows that play Stratford-upon-Avon only (whither the recent production of Hamlet set on the Titanic?) this is a handsome crowd pleaser, perfect for the hols.
Barbican Centre, Dec 8-Jan 17 2026. Buy tickets here.
10. The Playboy of the Western World
If the returning Ballet Shoes is the National Theatre’s official Christmas show, then this classy-looking revival of John Synge’s dark 1907 comedy about a young man who stumbles into a County Mayo pub claiming to have killed his father, probably counts as its alternative Christmas show. It’s got a great cast including Irish stars Nicola Coughlan, Éanna Hardwicke, Siobhán McSweeney and Marty Rea.
National Theatre, Lyttelton, Dec 4-Feb 28 2026. Buy tickets here.
The best new London theatre openings in 2025 and 2026.
The lights of the West End will be dimmed in memory of Tom Stoppard.