If there was ever a time to fill up your cultural calendar, it’s now. 2026 is shaping up to be a huge year for London’s theatre scene, with the likes of Cynthia Erivo, Tilda Swinton, Chris Pine and Self Esteem taking on lead roles in major shows; a hit American transfer; the return of east London’s The Yard; and more. Here’s what to book for 2026.
Deep Azure, Shakespeare’s Globe
The Globe’s 2026 winter season features the UK premiere of Deep Azure, a little-known 2005 play by the late Academy Award-winning actor and playwright Chadwick Boseman. Inflected with hip-hop, the Shakespeare-influenced play tells the story of Azure, a young woman who struggles to find peace when her fiancé Deep is killed by the police. It’s directed by Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu (For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy).
Deep Azure runs from February 7 to April 11 at Shakespeare’s Globe, South Bank.
Arcadia, The Old Vic
Acclaimed director Carrie Cracknell (A Doll’s House, Sea Wall / A Life) takes on Tom Stoppard’s masterpiece in a new production that comes just months after his death. With two concurrent stories taking place centuries apart in the same country house, Arcadia sees present-day scholars try to uncover what happened to a teenage mathematical genius and her tutor.
Arcadia runs from January 24 to March 21 at The Old Vic, Waterloo.
The Virgins, Soho Theatre
If you missed playwright Miriam Battye’s hit show Strategic Love Play – which was last on in London at Soho Theatre in late 2024 – then make sure you catch The Virgins, her brutally funny take on teenagerhood and desire. Battye (also known for her writing on HBO’s Succession) joins Olivier-nominated director Jaz Woodcock-Stewart to tell the story of four girls and two boys preparing for a big night out.
The Virgins runs from January 29 to March 7 at Soho Theatre, Soho.
Dracula, Noël Coward Theatre
Cynthia Erivo hangs up her broomstick to sink her teeth into a one-woman production of Dracula in this new adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic horror. It’s the next iteration of Sydney director Kip Williams’s series of Victorian horror adaptations – he was behind the production of The Picture of Dorian Gray, starring Sarah Snook. Erivo will play all 23 characters, in director Williams’s signature blend of pre-recorded video and live theatre.
Dracula runs from February 4 to May 30 at Noël Coward Theatre, Covent Garden.
Broken Glass, The Young Vic
Arthur Miller’s plays (rightly) appear on London’s stages fairly regularly – his gut-wrenching 1947 play All My Sons is currently on at Wyndham’s Theatre starring Bryan Cranston – but Broken Glass is a rarer occurrence. His 1994 play about a young Jewish couple in 1930s Brooklyn, grappling with the violent attacks against Jewish people unfolding in Nazi Germany, will be brought to life by director Jordan Fein, who is going from strength to strength after his excellent Into the Woods at the Bridge Theatre and, before that, the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s Fiddler on the Roof.
Broken Glass runs from February 21 to April 18 at The Young Vic, Waterloo.
Teeth ‘n’ Smiles, Duke of York’s Theatre
Less than a year after releasing her debut book and co-curating the London Literature Festival, Rebecca Lucy Taylor – aka pop star Self Esteem – will make her West End play debut in Teeth ‘n’ Smiles, a major revival of David Hare’s pioneering play that first premiered at the Royal Court in 1975 starring Helen Mirren. Taylor (who has written original music for the show) plays Maggie Frisby, a furious rock star clinging onto her fame at the end of the ’60s.
Teeth ‘n’ Smiles runs from March 13 to June 6 at Duke of York’s Theatre, Covent Garden.
John Proctor is the Villain, Royal Court
Sure to be a success for the Royal Court is John Proctor is the Villain, US playwright Kimberley Belflower’s smash-hit production, which is directed by the acclaimed Danya Taymor, and transferring to London from Broadway. The seven-time Tony Award-nominated show offers a biting feminist take on Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
John Proctor is the Villain runs from March 20 to April 25 at the Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses, National Theatre
The great Lesley Manville will star as a cunning aristocrat alongside Rivals actor Aidan Turner in a glittering new staging of Les Liaisons Dangereuses – Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s classic story of seduction and social warfare. It’s directed by the lauded Marianne Elliott (Angels in America, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time).
Les Liaisons Dangereuses runs from March 21 to June 6 at the National Theatre, South Bank.
1536, The Ambassadors Theatre
Ava Pickett’s sharply funny debut play 1536 is getting a West End transfer following rave reviews during its sold-out run at the Almeida last year. Directed by Lyndsey Turner (Chimerica), the play finds three women in a field in Essex in Tudor England, discussing Anne Boleyn’s execution.
1536 runs from May 2 to August 1 at The Ambassadors Theatre, Seven Dials.
Philosophy of the World, The Yard
Hackney Wick’s beloved theatre The Yard – known for its progressive programming and popular queer club nights – will reopen in July following a more than year-long hiatus as it undergoes an almost complete physical transformation. Its big comeback show will be the explosive Philosophy of the World by experimental theatre company In Bed With My Brother, which began at The Yard as part of its Live Drafts season in 2024 and tells the story of ’60s group The Shaggs, dubbed at the time by some as “the best worst band of all time”.
Philosophy of the World runs from July 14 to 18 at The Yard, Hackney Wick.
Pride, National Theatre
The National Theatre is bringing the 2014 film Pride – an uplifting story of the unlikely, real-life alliance between lesbian and gay activists and Welsh miners in 1984 – to the stage in a new musical. Pride will unite the writer and director of the original film, Stephen Beresford and Matthew Warchus, with a team of composers who have written songs inspired by protest anthems, disco, pop and Welsh choral music.
Pride runs from June 11 to September 12 at the National Theatre, South Bank.
Ivanov, Bridge Theatre
Hollywood star Chris Pine (Star Trek, Wonder Woman) will make his London stage debut in Ivanov, an adaptation of one of Chekhov’s lesser-known comic dramas by Australian writer-director Simon Stone. As with his previous hits The Lady from The Sea and Phaedra, Stone’s Ivanov will tell the story of the depressed Nikolai Ivanov sinking into a midlife crisis using contemporary language and costumes.
Ivanov runs from July 4 to September 19 at Bridge Theatre, Tower Bridge.
Man to Man, Royal Court
Tilda Swinton stars in the role that she originated 30 years ago, returning to the Royal Court to play Ella/Max in Man to Man, Manfred Karge’s play about a woman in 1930s Germany who takes on her husband’s identity. The original award-winning creative team has reunited for this run, but nabbing a ticket won’t be easy – your best bet is the theatre’s Monday performances, when tickets go on sale at 9am on the day of each show.
Man to Man runs from September 5 to October 24 at Royal Court, Sloane Square.
