Hello! I'm Andrzej, the theatre editor of Time Out London, and me and my freelancers review a heck of a lot of theatre. This page is an attempt to distil the shows that are on right now into something like a best of the best based upon our actual reviews, as opposed to my predictions, which determine our longer range what to book for list.
It isn’t a scientific process, and you’ll definitely see shows that got four stars above ones that got five – this is generally because the five star show is probably going to be on for years to come (hello, Hamilton) and I'm trying to draw your attention to one that’s only running for a couple more weeks. Or sometimes, we just like to shake things up a bit. It’s also deliberately light on the longer-running West End hits simply because I don’t think you need to know what I think about Les Mis before you book it (it’s fine!).
So please enjoy the best shows in London, as recommended by us, having actually seen them.
What is it? Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup star in a stripped back, intense and gaspingly intimate in-the-round production of Edward Albee’s masterpiece.
Where is it? @sohoplace.
Why go? Stunning lead performances – particularly from Crudup – magnified by astonishingly intimate staging, where the leads are rarely more than a few metres away. It is sold out but do look online daily for returns.
What is it? Oh come on you know what Hamilton is.
Where is it? Victoria Palace Theatre.
Why go? Well if you don’t know what Hamilton is, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s virtuosic hip-hop inflected account of the life and times of relatively obscure US Founding Father Alexander Hamilton is pretty much the biggest musical of our times. And it remains sensational an exhilarating celebration of multiculturalism that’s also a witty but broadlyt accurate romp through US history.
What is it? A baker, a witch and a boy with a cow walk into the woods. It sounds like the set-up to a dodgy Christmas cracker joke, but plenty of Londoners already know how this one ends, given Jordan Fein’s lavish revival of Sondheim’s subversive fairytale musical Into the Woods spent last year packing out the Bridge and hoovering up Oliviers. Now it’s crossed the river to the Noël Coward with a mostly new cast, and it’s every bit as good.
Where is it? Noël Coward Theatre.
Why go? A sublime musical done just right, and the West End cast is just as good as the Bridge one.
Sondheim and book writer James Lapine throw Cinderella, Jack, Rapunzel and Little Red Riding Hood into the same forest as a childless baker and his wife, and then ask what happens after ‘happily ever after.’ It’s the show’s first West End run since 1991, and if your only previous encounter with it is Meryl Streep and James Corden on Disney+, you’re in for a much stranger night.
Kate Fleetwood is back as the Witch and she owns every inch of stage. She first appears looking thoroughly fed up, like the cynical aunt you only see at Christmas who’s had beef with your parents for decades. She stands on the kitchen table barking orders at the Baker and his Wife, then sprawls across the counter to finish the job, lounging as if she’s on a sunbed while they scurry about beneath her. The Baker and his Wife are petrified, but Fleetwood keeps slipping in moments where she’s a bit ridiculous, even a bit sad, and those are what makes her more memorable than a panto baddie.
John Dagleish and Laura Pitt-Pulford are new as the Baker and his Wife, and they’re a lovely match. Their voices are beautiful together, which is never a given with a stage couple, and their duet ‘It Takes Two’ is a real high point of the show. Even when Sondheim has everyone singing over the top of each other in rounds, you can still make out every word.
Gracie McGonigal returns as Little Red Riding Hood and is still a joy, full of youthful cockiness, the kind of girl who’d square up to a wolf and fancy her chances. Speaking of which, Matthew Seadon-Young’s Wolf isn’t on stage for long but makes every second count. He struts on, sassy and flamboyant, and spends their whole exchange looking her up and down like he’s reading a dessert menu. Everyone can see he can’t wait to eat her except Red. You’ll want to knock him out.
Seadon-Young doubles as Cinderella’s Prince, and alongside Lucas Koch’s Prince (Rapunzel’s) he delivers the funniest number of the night. ‘Agony’ becomes a full-blown chad-off, two royals out-preening each other over the women they're supposedly pining for while running into each other’s arms and gazing longingly into each other’s eyes. It has the blokey bromance energy of two rugby lads who adore each other but would swear blind there’s nothing in it.
But what really sets this production apart is how it moves. Tom Scutt’s design fills the stage with trees, and the cast pop in and out of them so smoothly that it feels like you’re truly following them through a forest. One minute you’re watching the Baker by a trunk, the next Cinderella bursts out from behind another, dishevelled from running. The musical links between scenes, where the title refrain comes back round and characters appear one by one to deliver a single line, never missing a beat. You’re barely waiting for the story to move on, because you’re too busy watching who'll pop out from behind the next tree.
It’s a wordy, fiddly, nearly three-hour musical about fairytales, and somehow it flies by. It’s only here until January, so make sure to pop out to the Noël Coward before it vanishes back into the trees for another generation.
What is it? National treasure Paddington finally hits the stage in a lavish new musical with songs by Tom Fletcher and script by Jessica Swale.
Where is it? Savoy Theatre.
How much is it? £30-£160.
Why go? It’s a thoroughly delightful family musical packed with memorable characters, great jokes and delirious setpieces, but it’s the brilliantly realised title character that makes it – you’ll believe Paddington is in the room.
What is it? The RSC’s lavish stage adaptation of the Studio Ghibli classic is back for its third London run, and first time out in the West End.
Where is it? Gillian Lynne Theatre.
Why go? It’s a lovely – albeit very faithful – retelling of the beloved film, but it’s the spectacular puppet incarnations of furry forest spirit Totoro and whatever the hell the Catbus is that will really blow your mind.
What is it? Danny Lee Wynter’s semi-autobiographical drama about a mixed-race teen growing up in ’90s east London.
Where is it? Donmar Warehouse.
Why go? Drawing the lines between the people we were in the past and the people we become, Wynter has written something wise, witty and packed with big feelings. But here, it is the little things that move you: having to hand back the keys to your family home or inheriting old cassette tapes that have been held by the people you love. It's good stuff.
What is it? The longest-running musical of all time needs no introduction whatsoever (but if you really need to know it’s an all-singing adaptation of Victor Hugo’s seminal novel about the Paris Uprising of 1832).
Where is it? Sondheim Theatre.
Why go? Although the current West End iteration is a ‘new’ version that was ushered in in 2019 – and indeed there have been judicous updates throughout its long life – Les Mis is popular for the reason it’s always been popular: soaring songs, stirring story, memorable characters and a commitment to keeping it stocked with world class singing talent.
What is it? Andrew Lloyd Webber’s magnum opus is still going strong in the West End after almost 40 years.
Where is it? His Majesty’s Theatre.
Why go? To this day it looks utterly ravishing, with jaw dropping sets and impressive special effects. The plot – about a brooding psychopath who stalks a Parisian opera house – is wildly problematic, but it’s just extremely impressive theatre, with some deliciously bombastic songs, and as with Les Mis, the dedication to keeping first rate performers has kept it fresh decades after other shows have gone off the boil.
What is it? A big hit off-Broadway, this extremely goofy musical parody of James Cameron’s Titanic retells events from the perspective of the film’s real star: Celine Dion.
Where is it? Criterion Theatre.
Why go? Lauren Drew’s dotty, overbearing, perma-smiling Celine Dion is a truly wonderful creation, who lights up teh stage every second she’s on it. Things are a bit thinner in her absence, but it’s still a terrific laugh.
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