BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY
Hampstead Theatre – 3 May to 15 June
Described by one NYC critic as a “love-hate song to this impossible town”, Stephen Adly Guirgis’s acclaimed drama has had two major off-Broadway productions and one on Broadway, as well as countless well-received mountings all over the USA. The 2015 Pulitzer Prize winner is only now receiving its UK premiere, in a new staging by former Donmar AD Michael Longhurst.
https://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/whats-on/2024/between-riverside-and-crazy/
CABLE STREET
Southwark Playhouse – 16 February to 16 March
The 1936 Battle of Cable Street in the East End was a remarkable event in London history, where Jews, Irish and communists collaborated to halt Oswald Mosley’s fascist Blackshirts marching through Stepney. It’s now immortalised in a promising sounding musical by Tim Gilvin and Alex Kanefsky, with a distinguished cast including Max Alexander-Taylor and Sophia Ragavelas, and directed by Adam Lenson, one of this country’s most impassioned advocates for new musical theatre writing.
https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/cable-street/
COWBOIS
Royal Court Theatre – 11 January to 10 February
It’s unusual for the Royal Shakespeare Company to transfer from Stratford to the Royal Court, but then Charlie Josephine’s queer cowboy fantasia is a very special show. Praised to the skies at its Swan Theatre premiere last year, Josephine and Sean Holmes’s production comes to London with its acclaimed original cast including Sophie Melville, Lucy McCormick and Vinnie Heaven.
https://royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/cowbois/
CRUEL INTENTIONS
The Other Palace – 11 January to 14 April
I love a campy jukebox musical where the script matches the songs in quality, and judging from the cast album and the positive press from the pre-pandemic off-Broadway premiere, Cruel Intentions very much fits that bill. ‘90s bangers meet a gleefully vicious tale, culled from the Ryan Phillipe-Sarah Michelle Gellar movie which was in turn based on Les Liaisons Dangereuses, of privileged young UWS New Yorkers ripping each other to pieces. I smell a cult.
https://theotherpalace.co.uk/cruel-intentions-the-90s-musical/
DON’T DESTROY ME
Arcola Theatre – 10 January to 3 February
Michael Hastings is an unjustly neglected playwright so it’s wonderful to see a revival of his first play, dating from 1956, a Jewish family drama with a potent timeliness. Tricia Thorns, who specialises in uncovering lost theatrical gems, directs a terrific cast including Nicholas Day, Alix Dunmore, Sue Kelvin and Paul Rider.
https://www.arcolatheatre.com/whats-on/dont-destroy-me/
HADESTOWN
Lyric Theatre – from 18 February
Having seen the original NT production and subsequent Broadway transfer, I thought I’d done with Hadestown, for all the brilliance of Rachel Chavkin’s staging and the spine-tingling glories of Anaïs Mitchell’s songs, but then they announced the London cast. West End treasure Melanie LaBarrie as Hermes, glamazon diva Gloria Onitiri and Grace Hodgett Young, just before she repeats her luminous Betty in the Jamie Lloyd Sunset on Broadway, make this award-winning musical a must-see all over again.
https://nimaxtheatres.com/shows/hadestown/
JAB
Finborough Theatre – 20 February to 16 March
Hopefully we are now in a position where we can actually watch a play set during lockdown rather than just getting PTSD from it, and this sounds excellent. Former EastEnders actress Kacey Ainsworth appears in this state-of-the-nation meets marital strife black comedy, staged by rising star director Scott LeCrass.
https://finboroughtheatre.co.uk/production/jab/
JUST FOR ONE DAY
The Old Vic – 26 January to 30 March
With Luke (& Juliet, The Little Big Things) Sheppard at the helm, this promises to be one of the major musicals of the year. A jukebox tuner, written by John O’Farrell who has previously demonstrated an unerring ability to match humour and real emotion, that looks back on the star-studded 1980s phenomenon of Live Aid, and includes hit songs performed on the day itself. Featuring a cast of the West End’s finest.
https://www.oldvictheatre.com/stage/event/just-for-one-day
LONG DAYS JOURNEY INTO NIGHT
Wyndham’s Theatre – 19 March to 8 June
Eugene O’Neill’s American classic seems to be on at least twice in every decade, but then again, it’s a truly great play. Done right, it’s searing and unforgettable. With a cast headed by Brian Cox and Patricia Clarkson (few other American actresses can do steel and vulnerability like she can) this ought to be magnificent.
https://longdaysjourneylondon.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI18nwqrbLgwMVMpZQBh0_ewCxEAAYAiAAEgKkxPD_BwE
MEAN GIRLS
Savoy Theatre – from 5 June
It’s so fetch. Although the Broadway run was curtailed by the pandemic, this Tina Fey stage adaptation of her own film, with a boppy, bombastic score by Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin, is a real crowd pleaser. Not as dark as Heathers, which it sometimes resembles, it nonetheless has genuine bite and wit, plus (on stage at least) significantly more lavish production values, and some terrific numbers. The imminent release of the new movie version will give audiences an idea of what to expect.
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/mean-girls/savoy-theatre/
MJ – THE MUSICAL
Prince Edward Theatre – from 6 March
London’s not ready for the pure exhilaration of this celebration of Michael Jackson and his legacy. About as far removed from the long running Thriller Live! as it’s possible to imagine, this Broadway extravaganza features some of the most extraordinary choreography (by classical dance expert Christopher Wheeldon), dancing, sound and lighting I’ve ever experienced in a musical.
https://london.mjthemusical.com
PRIMARY TRUST
Donmar Warehouse – 16 February to 13 April
The Donmar has a superb track record of presenting the UK premieres of some of the best of contemporary American writing (Sweat, Appropriate, A Dolls House Part 2, Clyde’s) and this Eboni Booth comedy drama looks set to continue that trend. A critical and popular success in New York in 2019, the London production is directed by Matthew Xia.
https://www.donmarwarehouse.com
RED PITCH
@SohoPlace – 15 March to 4 May
A well deserved West End transfer for Tyrell Williams’s bold, beautiful, rich tale of Black brotherhood, coming-of-age, urban regeneration… and football. This has been a sold out triumph for the Bush Theatre twice already and deserves to repeat that success in town. Even better, the original cast – Francis Lovehall, Emeka Sesay and Kedar Williams-Stirling – are recreating their roles in Daniel Bailey’s flawless production.
https://nimaxtheatres.com/shows/red-pitch/
SHIFTERS
Bush Theatre – 16 February to 13 March
Lava, Benedict Lombe’s previous play for this marvellous West London venue was a brilliant monologue about a British African woman confronting her dual heritage. This new one is billed as “a different kind of love story”….Lombe can write, Lynette Linton is directing, Heather Agyepong, so good in School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play last year, makes up half the cast…I can’t wait.
STARLIGHT EXPRESS
Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre – from 8 June
After the triumph of last year’s Sunset Boulevard, Andrew Lloyd Webber is looking at his second runaway smash hit in a row, as the roller-skating trains that occupied the Apollo Victoria for most of the ‘80s and ‘90s, return to record breaking advance sales. Don’t expect anything profound, but go for the spectacle, heart-stopping stunts, fiendishly catchy pop tunes, and a huge dose of nostalgia for those of us who were there first time around.
https://www.starlightexpresslondon.com
THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA
Harold Pinter Theatre – 27 January to 15 June
A new Jez Butterworth play is inevitably a major event, and this Sam Mendes-directed premiere already looks like a smash hit. A story of sisters reuniting at the death bed of their mother, the cast includes Laura Donnelly, Ophelia Lovibond, Leanne Best and Helena Wilson. Early booking essential.
https://www.haroldpintertheatre.co.uk/shows/the-hills-of-california
THE HUMAN BODY
Donmar Warehouse – 16 February to 13 April
Lucy Kirkwood is one of the UK’s most consistently excellent playwrights, so perhaps it’s no surprise that her new play, a romantic drama apparently, is sold out before it even starts. The casting of Jack Davenport and Keeley Hawes won’t have hurt….
https://www.donmarwarehouse.com
THE ROSE TATTOO
Arcola Theatre – 4 April to 11 May
Although it’s a belter of a play, thIs Tennessee Williams romantic comedy isn’t seen very often (the last London production was at the National in 2007 with Zoe Wanamaker). Maybe it’s just too upbeat compared to the rest of the Williams canon (it actually has a happy ending!) Anyway, Martina Laird, this version’s Serafina, is a force of nature in a role that demands precisely that.
https://www.arcolatheatre.com/whats-on/the-rose-tattoo/
TURNING THE SCREW
Kings Head Theatre – 14 February to 10 March
I missed Tim McArthur’s widely praised original production of Kevin Kelly’s explosive drama about Benjamin Britten during its brief Wimbledon run in 2022, so am looking forward to catching it this time around. The story of the composer’s tortured private life set against the magnitude of his artistry is a fascinating, albeit uncomfortable one.
https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/turning-the-screw
WHAT (IS) A WOMAN
Arcola Theatre – 23 April to 4 May
Andrée Bernard is one of those charismatic triple threat talents that deserves to be a much bigger star than she is. Hopefully, this self-penned solo musical will help remedy that. She’ll be directed by Michael Strassen, who has superb form when it comes to coaxing stunning performances out of stellar divas.
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