The best way to start off your new year is with plenty of new shows! Happily, London is as busy as ever when it comes to great plays, musicals, comedy, cabaret and more, so you can find loads of enticing options in the West End and beyond in January 2024. 

A new play from Jez Butterworth, who gave us *Jerusalem* and *The Ferryman*, is a definite event, so you won’t want to miss *[The Hills of California](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36247-the-hills-of-california)*. Another hot ticket is the transfer of Broadway hit *[Plaza Suite](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35375-plaza-suite)*, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, while Rodgers and Hammerstein fans will cheer the return of *[The King and I](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/28319-the-king-and-i)*.

[Alan Cumming](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/37250-alan-cumming-not-acting-his-age) brings his cabaret show to Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and over at the Old Vic, you can experience an incredible moment in history with the new Live Aid musical *[Just For One Day](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35497-just-for-one-day)*. Plus there’s amazing 1990s nostalgia on offer thanks to the [*Cruel Intentions* musical](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36246-cruel-intentions-the-90s-musical).

Book [tickets to London shows in January](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/whats-on/dec) on London Theatre.

![Plaza Suite](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/4MlGLSoHNBCE8XUaZrE8mk/73f0212d8baa2d737045f3d44af04696/plaza_suite_1-1200.jpg)

## *[Plaza Suite](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35375-plaza-suite)*, [Savoy Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/savoy-theatre)

This brilliant revival of Neil Simon’s comedy broke box office records during its smash-hit Broadway run, and is now set to take London by storm. Check into the Plaza Hotel and follow the complex love lives of three different couples in this funny, poignant and riveting show.

It’s a rare chance to see the real-life couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick on stage together. Parker, of course, is beloved for *Sex and the City* – she’s making her West End debut in Plaza Suite. Broderick, a two-time Tony winner, is back following his 2019 London performance in *The Starry Messenger*.

Book [*Plaza Suite* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35375-plaza-suite) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=35375&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![The Hills of California - LT - 1200x600](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1L9SNlZpgBTEI4QiHd0nZ9/99d1545d5e44f531b4ccd847b6aecbc3/Article_1200x600__68_.png)

## *[The Hills of California](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36247-the-hills-of-california)*, [Harold Pinter Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/harold-pinter-theatre)

This new play from Jez Butterworth is set in Blackpool during the heatwave of summer 1976. The story begins when the Webb sisters return home to the family’s rundown, backstreet guest house where their mother is dying. 

Butterworth reunites with director Sam Mendes, who last brought to life his Olivier and Tony-winning *The Ferryman*, for this intriguing premiere. The cast features Laura Donnelly (who also starred in *The Ferryman*), Ophelia Lovibond, Leanne Best, Helena Wilson, Bryan Dick, Shaun Dooley and Corey Johnson. 

Book [*The Hills of California* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36247-the-hills-of-california) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=36247&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![Kim's Convenience - LT - 1200](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3tbBvo9ux6vTYeGf1kb0Hs/da3ffd77057af4c69de10da3b7094339/kim.jpg)

## *[Kim’s Convenience](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36250-kims-convenience)*, [Park Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/park-theatre)

Ins Choi’s award-winning show about a Korean family-run convenience store in Toronto became a success in Canada back in 2011 and then reached a global audience when it was turned into a TV sitcom and aired on Netflix (the cast included future Marvel and *Barbie* film star Simu Liu). 

Now London audiences can experience the original version of this thought-provoking and heart-warming story about the immigrant Mr Kim and his difficulty relating to his Canada-born children in Park Theatre’s staging of the show, once again starring Choi.

Book [*Kim’s Convenience* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36250-kims-convenience) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=36250&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![The King and I - LT - 1200](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/6fywekiIuo0oJtbXhQXDtb/198e873be3fa6fc66b894970e2b72bd1/King-1200-050423.jpg)

## *[The King and I](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/28319-the-king-and-i)*, [Dominion Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/dominion-theatre)

Bartlett Sher’s glorious, Tony-winning revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s *The King and I* is back in the West End, this time starring Helen George (*Call the Midwife*) as the intrepid governess Anna Leonowens, and Broadway star Darren Lee as the King of Siam.

See this ravishing musical in an epic production, and enjoy all of those wonderful Golden Age songs – including “Getting to Know You,” “Something Wonderful,” “I Have Dreamed,” “Whistle a Happy Tune” and, of course, “Shall We Dance?”

Book [*The King and I* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/28319-the-king-and-i) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=28319&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![Alan Cumming - LT - 1200](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/asSze8SnFpEzZ82PkzNuv/4677fb00fea96b03a5fa3414a0fe767a/alan.jpg)

## *[Alan Cumming Is Not Acting His Age](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/37250-alan-cumming-not-acting-his-age)*, [Theatre Royal Drury Lane](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/theatre-royal-drury-lane)

The star of stage and screen, whose wide range of roles include his Tony-winning Emcee in *Cabaret*, movies such as *GoldenEye*, *Burlesque* and *X2*, and TV series like *The Good Wife* and *Schmigadoon*, brings his new cabaret show to the West End.

At 58, Alan Cumming celebrates his joie de vivre with an eclectic set list – Kander and Ebb, of course, but also contemporary song and even some original material riffing on botox. Cumming also shares hilarious stories from his life.

Book [*Alan Cumming Is Not Acting His Age* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/37250-alan-cumming-not-acting-his-age) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=37250&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![Just For One Day - LT - 1200x600](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/7DfWEsNjDnBRjBmk2SaYjm/12047f9530c303709db9d6ca52ec1a43/Article_1200x600__25_.png)

## *[Just For One Day](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35497-just-for-one-day)*, [Old Vic](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/old-vic-theatre)

Turn back the clock to a very special day in July 1985, when the whole world was united by music. New musical *Just For One Day* tells the story of how the Live Aid concert raised an incredible $127 million for famine relief, with simultaneous performances at Wembley Stadium in London and the John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia.

John O’Farrell writes the book, Luke Sheppard directs, and the show features the incredible Live Aid music that billions of people watched – from Bob Dylan, Queen and David Bowie to Diana Ross, Status Quo, Bryan Adams and more.

Book [*Just For One Day* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35497-just-for-one-day) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=35497&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![Cruel Intentions - LT - 1200x600](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/61r1tL3BhEhUP8n8F2Osbz/fe81df65773c0032ed37c2c405d9c638/Article_1200x600__55_.png)

## *[Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36246-cruel-intentions-the-90s-musical)*, [The Other Palace](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/the-other-palace)

The iconic movie update of *Les Liaisons Dangereuses* featured a who’s who of 1990s talent: Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Selma Blair, plus a scene-stealing Christine Baranski. Now *Cruel Intentions* is reborn as a tongue-in-cheek stage musical.

This production, previously seen in New York and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, celebrates the 25th anniversary of the film. Watch manipulative step-siblings Sebastian and Kathryn compete in their sexual power games, accompanied by ’90s favourites like The Verve, R.E.M., Britney, TLC, and much more.

Book [*Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36246-cruel-intentions-the-90s-musical) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=36246&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![Othello - LT - 1200](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3dcAblx8XyVtDytInkff6r/bc198d946b5261d490244c037db1ce02/image.jpg)

## *[Othello](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/26187-othello-tickets)*, [Sam Wanamaker Playhouse](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/sam-wanamaker-playhouse)

It’s the 10th anniversary season of the Globe’s candlelit indoor space, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, and what better play to make use of its atmospheric intimacy than Shakespeare’s great domestic tragedy, *Othello*?

Ola Ince, who created the Globe’s stirring *Romeo and Juliet* in 2021, returns to direct this provocative contemporary update. She moves the action from 16th-century Venice to modern-day London, all the better to explore pressing topical issues like institutional racism and toxic masculinity.

Book [*Othello* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/26187-othello-tickets) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=26187&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![Afterglow - LT - 1200x600](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/2pfX386Bd2eKPDT95BYHjc/f47c4f95414c58f1b394bbc93a0ae8e3/Article_1200x600__41_.png)

## *[Afterglow](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36122-afterglow)*, [Southwark Playhouse](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/southwark-playhouse)

Back by popular demand, S Asher Gelman’s acclaimed Off-Broadway play returns for an encore run at Southwark Playhouse, where it had its UK premiere in 2019. Gelman is once again directing his raw, funny and sexy modern love story.

A cast featuring Peter McPherson, James Nicholson, Victor Hugo and Paddy Cavendish tell this tale of Josh and Alex, who are married but in an open relationship, and how a threesome redefines and challenges their whole dynamic.

Book [*Afterglow* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36122-afterglow) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=36122&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![Rehab - LT - 1200x600](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/5NFA0nDquYOvRhg4vPVBhF/35f05e3aa6e4031e36e36fbbc18935d6/Article_1200x600__42_.png)

## *[Rehab the Musical](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36337-rehab-the-musical)*, NEON 194

There’s another chance to catch this new British musical by Grant Black, Murray Lachlan Young and Elliot Davis, which premiered at the Playground Theatre in 2022, as it comes to NEON 194.

Pop star Kid Pop winds up in rehab following a tabloid sting, but will he actually embrace a second chance? The cast includes Keith Allen, Mica Paris, Maiya Quansah-Breed, Christian Maynard, Jodi Steele and Oscar Conlon-Morrey.

Book [*Rehab the Musical* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36337-rehab-the-musical) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=36337&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

Top theatre to see in London in January

plaza suite 1200x600 LT

Find out the best shows to see in London in January 2024, including exciting new plays, big West End musicals, and Hollywood A-listers coming to town.

We’ve seen some incredible theatre in 2023, and next year looks set to be just as exciting – if not more! There’s a ton of great London shows opening in 2024, from starry revivals and bold premieres to Broadway hits heading to the West End.

You won’t want to miss Sir Ian McKellen’s return to Shakespeare in *[Player Kings](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/37071-player-kings)*. Matt Smith is back on stage too with *[An Enemy of the People](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/14324-an-enemy-of-the-people)*, as is *Succession*’s Brian Cox in *[Long Day’s Journey Into Night](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35498-long-days-journey-into-night)*, while Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick co-star in *[Plaza Suite](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35375-plaza-suite)*.

Broadway’s *[MJ The Musical](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/28638-mj-the-musical)* moonwalks over the pond, and the acclaimed *[Hadestown](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/24465-hadestown-tickets)* also gets a fresh London run. Plus homegrown hit *[Standing at the Sky’s Edge](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/27671-standing-at-the-skys-edge)* completes its journey from Sheffield to the West End – and gird your loins for *[The Devil Wears Prada](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/34706-the-devil-wears-prada)* and *[Mean Girls](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35503-mean-girls)*.

Book [tickets to London shows in 2024](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/whats-on) on London Theatre.

![Hadestown - LT - 1200](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/9yzEeVUR52fq7dqdUHsF1/0ede62873a4b0a81faceac7799cfc26e/hadestown.jpg)

## *[Hadestown](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/24465-hadestown-tickets)*, [Lyric Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/lyric-theatre)

Journey way down to *[Hadestown](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/24465-hadestown-tickets)*, Anaïs Mitchell’s Tony-winning musical which fuses New Orleans jazz and American folk to tell the story of an Ancient Greek myth in a whole new way. The show previously stopped by the National Theatre on its way to Broadway – now we finally get to see it in the West End.

Follow lovers Orpheus and Eurydice as they battle to survive the Depression, and to stay together. The fantastic London cast features Dónal Finn, Grace Hodgett Young, Zachary James, Melanie La Barrie and Gloria Onitiri.

Book [*Hadestown* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/24465-hadestown-tickets) on London Theatre.

[![LT - CTA - 250](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1t6HRGmhlYl70k6PmR0mOZ/3caac861bc1d4233cd7844652c925623/LT-CTA-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=24465&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![Ian McKellen - LT - 1200](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1RsMCMz1LVfDLvd1ShNmiB/a0c6da1235fe1ca8d3604c262d0a12ac/ian_mckellen.jpg)

## *[Player Kings](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/37071-player-kings)*, [Noël Coward Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/noel-coward-theatre)

Sir Ian McKellen is back in the West End, starring as another knight, Sir John Falstaff, in this fresh reworking of Shakespeare’s *Henry IV Parts 1* and *2*. Falstaff is the raucous pal of Prince Hal, but can the latter become the leader that England needs while retaining his friendship?

Shakespeare’s plays get a bold new slant from the acclaimed writer and director Robert Icke, who has previously put his stamp on the *Oresteia*, *The Doctor*, and an Andrew Scott-starring *Hamlet*. His team-up with McKellen is sure to be one of the theatrical highlights of 2024.

Book [*Player Kings* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/37071-player-kings) on London Theatre.

[![LT - CTA - 250](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1t6HRGmhlYl70k6PmR0mOZ/3caac861bc1d4233cd7844652c925623/LT-CTA-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=37071&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![MJ The Musical](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/57IYXLargE99tH37LPlauj/09a57e7965f709872b9ecf19e98d7011/mj_review-1200.jpg)

## *[MJ The Musical](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/28638-mj-the-musical)*, [Prince Edward Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/prince-edward-theatre)

The King of Pop is moonwalking into the West End as this hit Broadway musical makes its much-anticipated transfer. Myles Frost, who won the Best Actor Tony for his incredible portrayal of Michael Jackson, is also coming over with the show.

Directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, the high-voltage production follows Jackson as he prepares for his 1992 Dangerous World Tour, and looks back on his journey to stardom. It features indelible tunes like “Billie Jean,” “Smooth Criminal,” “Beat It,” and “Thriller”.

Book [*MJ The Musical* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/28638-mj-the-musical) on London Theatre.

[![LT - CTA - 250](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1t6HRGmhlYl70k6PmR0mOZ/3caac861bc1d4233cd7844652c925623/LT-CTA-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=28638&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![An Enemy of the People Matt Smith - LT - 1200x600](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3kJXahpeOsJqPaaah6L1tk/39cf7b737bf8fb95a736cb76573acba4/An_Enemy_of_the_People_Matt_Smith_-_LT_-_1200x600.png)

## *[An Enemy of the People](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/14324-an-enemy-of-the-people)*, [Duke of York’s Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/duke-of-yorks-theatre)

[Matt Smith](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/learn-more-about-matt-smith-before-seeing-him-in-an-enemy-of-the-people) heads to the  West End in Thomas Ostermeier’s contemporary staging of Ibsen’s classic play. He stars as Dr Thomas Stockmann, who discovers the terrible truth about the spas that finance his entire town, and must weigh his ethical responsibility against the community’s needs.

Smith is known to millions for his roles in *Doctor Who* and *House of the Dragon*. He’ll be joined in *An Enemy of the People* by Jessica Brown Findlay, Priyanga Burford, Zachary Hart, Paul Hilton, Nigel Lindsay and Shubham Saraf.

Book [*An Enemy of the People* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/14324-an-enemy-of-the-people) on London Theatre.

[![LT - CTA - 250](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1t6HRGmhlYl70k6PmR0mOZ/3caac861bc1d4233cd7844652c925623/LT-CTA-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=14324&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![Standing at the Sky's Edge - LT - 1200x600](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/2Ls3hHKAQWQTuKLRsq43an/ccf2e06ba5c3ea0b1b34d9b1eb82a117/Article_1200x600__64_.png)

## *[Standing at the Sky’s Edge](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/27671-standing-at-the-skys-edge)*, [Gillian Lynne Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/gillian-lynne-theatre)

Robert Hastie’s phenomenal Sheffield Crucible production, which went on to wow audiences at the National Theatre and win the Olivier Award for Best New Musical, now makes a triumphant transfer to the West End.

Chris Bush’s wonderful book follows three generations of inhabitants at the titular estate, cleverly interweaving songs by Richard Hawley. The cast includes Laura Pitt-Pulford, Elizabeth Ayodele, Samuel Jordan, Joel Harper-Jackson, Rachael Wooding, Mel Lowe and Lauryn Redding.

Book [*Standing at the Sky’s Edge* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/27671-standing-at-the-skys-edge) on London Theatre.

[![LT - CTA - 250](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1t6HRGmhlYl70k6PmR0mOZ/3caac861bc1d4233cd7844652c925623/LT-CTA-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=27671&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![Plaza Suite](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/4MlGLSoHNBCE8XUaZrE8mk/73f0212d8baa2d737045f3d44af04696/plaza_suite_1-1200.jpg)

## *[Plaza Suite](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35375-plaza-suite)*, [Savoy Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/savoy-theatre)

Broadway audiences went crazy for this revival of Neil Simon’s relationship comedy and its stars, the real-life married couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. Now London gets the chance to see the pair in action as *Plaza Suite* comes to town.

The play gives us an intimate view of three couples who all happen to stay in the same suite at the Plaza Hotel. Hilarious and heartfelt, it’s a comic gem – plus this is the *Sex and the City* star’s much-anticipated West End debut.

Book [*Plaza Suite* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35375-plaza-suite) on London Theatre.

[![LT - CTA - 250](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1t6HRGmhlYl70k6PmR0mOZ/3caac861bc1d4233cd7844652c925623/LT-CTA-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=35375&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![Hello Dolly - LT - 1200](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/7q2zFoSSOhxF9k8bt0qBDd/6017e674ffbad38dc8e52b344d2c3655/hello_dolly.jpg)

## *[Hello, Dolly!](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/37374-hello-dolly?)*, [London Palladium](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/london-palladium)

[Imelda Staunton](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/learn-more-about-imelda-stauntons-career-ahead-of-hello-dolly) is back in a stage musical – and it’s a glorious one. Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart’s timeless comedy centres on matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi, who uses her talents to find love for everyone, including herself. 

Staunton has won numerous Oliviers for her work in shows like *Guys and Dolls*, *Gypsy*, *Sweeney Todd* and *Follies*, as well as playing Elizabeth II in *The Crown*. She’s joined in *Hello, Dolly!* by Andy Nyman, Jenna Russell, Tyrone Huntley and Harry Hepple, and is directed by Dominic Cooke.

Book [*Hello, Dolly!* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/37374-hello-dolly?) on London Theatre.

[![LT - CTA - 250](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1t6HRGmhlYl70k6PmR0mOZ/3caac861bc1d4233cd7844652c925623/LT-CTA-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=37374&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![mean girls-1200x600-LT](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/2Qnn9zCGC6HYuDt2PTsRuR/d86b4b9348baf152c3000f8ea3afcc47/mg.jpg)

## *[Mean Girls](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35503-mean-girls?)*, [Savoy Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/savoy-theatre)

Finally! The long-awaited UK premiere of Broadway musical *Mean Girls* arrives in 2024 – that’s so fetch. Follow Cady Heron as she enters the wild world of high school and, teaming up with outcasts Janis and Damian, takes on Regina George and the infamous Plastics.

Tina Fey adapts her beloved 2004 movie comedy into a stage musical along with composer husband Jeff Richmond and *Legally Blonde* lyricist Nell Benjamin (and next year also sees a movie version of that musical hitting the big screen!). Casey Nicholaw directs.

Book [*Mean Girls* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35503-mean-girls?) on London Theatre.

[![LT - CTA - 250](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1t6HRGmhlYl70k6PmR0mOZ/3caac861bc1d4233cd7844652c925623/LT-CTA-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=35503&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![Long Day's Journey into Night - 1200 - LT](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1UsxK0iqhweSzNnuhTqTpT/af377e5508560be1c80fd4831a8e28ea/LDJIN_Q2_007_Press_Image_LS_VA.jpg)

## *[Long Day’s Journey Into Night](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35498-long-days-journey-into-night?)*, [Wyndham’s Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/wyndhams-theatre)

Here’s an irresistible prospect: Jeremy Herrin directs the great [Brian Cox](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/learn-more-about-brian-coxs-career-ahead-of-long-days-journey-into-night) in Eugene O’Neill’s mighty family drama. Set in 1912, in Connecticut, the autobiographical *Long Day’s Journey Into Night* tackles addiction, mental health issues, jealousy, and shattered dreams.

*Succession* star Cox is joined by an exciting company for this revival: acclaimed Hollywood actress Patricia Clarkson, *Harry Potter and the Cursed Child*’s Anthony Boyle, Daryl McCormack of movie *Good Luck to You, Leo Grande*, and *Derry Girls* actress Louisa Harland.

Book [*Long Day’s Journey Into Night* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35498-long-days-journey-into-night?) on London Theatre.

[![LT - CTA - 250](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1t6HRGmhlYl70k6PmR0mOZ/3caac861bc1d4233cd7844652c925623/LT-CTA-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=35498&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![Opening Night Sheridan Smith - LT - 1200x600](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/55ESloy4JTfmUqltBcAwwf/f4a1f5e88f64ef20878fcc6fb80ad3c7/Article_1200x600__66_.png)

## *[Opening Night](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36785-opening-night)*, [Gielgud Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/gielgud-theatre)

Ivo van Hove directs [Sheridan Smith](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/sheridan-smith) in this new musical adaptation of the John Cassavetes film *Opening Night*, about an actress who is haunted by a dead fan, and how backstage drama fuels the onstage action. The show will have original songs written by Rufus Wainwright.

That’s a serious collection of talent. Van Hove has won praise for his distinctive productions of everything from *All About Eve* (starring Gillian Anderson and Lily James) to his bold Broadway revival of *West Side Story*, while the Olivier-winning Smith has starred in *Legally Blonde*, *Funny Girl* and more.

Book [*Opening Night* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36785-opening-night) on London Theatre.

[![LT - CTA - 250](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1t6HRGmhlYl70k6PmR0mOZ/3caac861bc1d4233cd7844652c925623/LT-CTA-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=36785&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![The Hills of California - LT - 1200x600](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1L9SNlZpgBTEI4QiHd0nZ9/99d1545d5e44f531b4ccd847b6aecbc3/Article_1200x600__68_.png)

## *[The Hills of California](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36247-the-hills-of-california)*, [Harold Pinter Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/harold-pinter-theatre)

The dream team of Jez Butterworth and Sam Mendes – who last collaborated on The Ferryman – are back together. Mendes directs Butterworth’s new play, a family drama set in the stifling heatwave of summer 1976, in Blackpool. 

The excellent cast includes Laura Donnelly (another holdover from *The Ferryman*), Ophelia Lovibond, Leanne Best, Helena Wilson, Bryan Dick, Shaun Dooley and Corey Johnson. This one is bound to sell out fast, so don’t wait too long. 

Book [*The Hills of California* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36247-the-hills-of-california) on London Theatre.

[![LT - CTA - 250](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1t6HRGmhlYl70k6PmR0mOZ/3caac861bc1d4233cd7844652c925623/LT-CTA-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=36247&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![The Devil Wears Prada - LT - 1200x600](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/6JJjcW13rprZlFLYXwCpE8/961f3d8579084e83e214108ef70b50d9/Article_1200x600.png)

## *[The Devil Wears Prada](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/34706-the-devil-wears-prada)*, [Dominion Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/dominion-theatre)

London audiences, beware: Miranda Priestly is on her way. Yes, the stylish musical adaptation of the iconic movie about a cut-throat fashion magazine is coming to London – so don the Chanel boots, gird your loins, and prepare to hit the runway.

Elton John has supplied the score for this new take on Lauren Weisberger’s tell-all novel, which inspired the blockbuster film starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt, and Jerry Mitchell directs. Who will strut their stuff as Miranda in the West End? We’ll soon find out!

Book [*The Devil Wears Prada* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/34706-the-devil-wears-prada) on London Theatre.

[![LT - CTA - 250](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1t6HRGmhlYl70k6PmR0mOZ/3caac861bc1d4233cd7844652c925623/LT-CTA-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=34706&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=117)

![Just For One Day - LT - 1200x600](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/7DfWEsNjDnBRjBmk2SaYjm/12047f9530c303709db9d6ca52ec1a43/Article_1200x600__25_.png)

## *[Just For One Day](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35497-just-for-one-day)*, [Old Vic](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/old-vic-theatre)

The Old Vic takes us back to that incredible day in July 1985 when music brought the world together, with the record-breaking Live Aid concert watched by billions and raising $127 million for famine relief.

This new musical, written by John O’Farrell and directed by Luke Sheppard, revisits the landmark event. It’s an extraordinary piece of modern history, plus a great excuse to celebrate music by Live Aid performers like Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Diana Ross and Queen.

Book [*Just For One Day* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35497-just-for-one-day) on London Theatre.

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The best London shows to see in 2024

Mean Girls LON - WL Banner

Find out the best shows to see in London in 2024, including big Broadway transfers and intriguing premieres, and start planning your trips to the capital now.

For a killer plot that’ll have you in stitches, look no further than Steven Moffat’s new comedy *The Unfriend*, which has released rehearsal photos ahead of its West End return on 16 December.

Opening at [Wyndham's Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/wyndhams-theatre), the play is directed by Mark Gatiss and follows holidaymakers Peter and Debbie, who befriend Elsa: a Trump-loving widow from the US. When Elsa invites herself to stay with them a few months later, the couple decide to look her up online. But when they learn the truth, it’s too late, as she’s already on a flight to London.

The new comedy has an all-star cast including Lee Mack (*Would I Lie to You, Not Going Out, Inside No. 9*), Sarah Alexander (*Jonathan Creek, Green Wing, Smack the Pony, Coupling*), Frances Barber (*Silk, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool*), and Nick Sampson (*Witness for the Prosecution, Antony and Cleopatra*).

Check out photos of the cast in rehearsals for this hilarious new comedy, booking now until 9 March.

Book [*The Unfriend* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/26431-the-unfriend) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=26431&content_product_id=26431&venue_id=125&product_type=show&qt=2)

![Jem Matthews and Lee Mack the unfriend 1200x600 photo Craig Sugden](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/4Ghh47ooLgmL6XbPgzhxAA/ecf89b3f135152e95d178581e581c947/Jem_Matthews_and_Lee_Mack_the_unfriend_1200x600_photo_Craig_Sugden.jpg)

Jem Matthews and Lee Mack.

![Lee Mack and Maddie Holliday the unfriend 1200x600 photo Craig Sugden](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/20BbmIkKGUgGRMVlstoANf/759ac02e20faa25839629d42d0470b6f/Lee_Mack_and_Maddie_Holliday_the_unfriend_1200x600_photo_Craig_Sugden.jpg)

Lee Mack and Maddie Holliday.

![Nick Sampson and Lee Mack the unfriend 1200x600 photo Craig Sugden](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/5LKI8gjhntcqQlWuFQzxjX/af9c45fce2586f9c76484827f5e7ad3b/Nick_Sampson_and_Lee_Mack_the_unfriend_1200x600_photo_Craig_Sugden.jpg)

Nick Sampson and Lee Mack.

![Sarah Alexander and Director Mark Gatiss the unfriend 1200x600 photo Craig Sugden](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/6oFmhUtfuYnStWgWYbEr4c/079511a2f70bb709a23263d3cb447ab1/Sarah_Alexander_and_Director_Mark_Gatiss_the_unfriend_1200x600_photo_Craig_Sugden.jpg)

Sarah Alexander and director Mark Gatiss.

![Sarah Alexander and Lee Mack the unfriend 1200x600 photo Craig Sugden](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/5T2NNHxTEThKg34ls5L1J2/b0c3f1180164166b78f1054089fae926/Sarah_Alexander_and_Lee_Mack_the_unfriend_1200x600_photo_Craig_Sugden.jpg)

Sarah Alexander and Lee Mack.

![Sarah Alexander, Lee Mack and Director Mark Gatiss the unfriend 1200x600 photo Craig Sugden](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/2Z56cdkgGkImrGd8U4LxIW/a76896481c6b8653d3a859d8b17dedca/Sarah_Alexander__Lee_Mack_and_Director_Mark_Gatiss_the_unfriend_1200x600_photo_Craig_Sugden.jpg)

Sarah Alexander, Lee Mack and Mark Gatiss.

![Sarah Alexander, Muzz Khan and Lee Mack the unfriend 1200x600 photo Craig Sugden](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/7Kh5OgUJihje1V2ugXcVOY/f0cbbe8bef19b8c2bc83d2738b264400/Sarah_Alexander__Muzz_Khan_and_Lee_Mack_the_unfriend_1200x600_photo_Craig_Sugden.jpg)

Sarah Alexander, Muzz Khan and Lee Mack.

![Lee Mack the unfriend 1200x600 photo Craig Sugden](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/41bxaHIzSr59FQ4gNkBdKM/52be994c835613b36e0641c0c74589e4/Lee_Mack_the_unfriend_1200x600_photo_Craig_Sugden.jpg)

Lee Mack.

*Photo credit: the cast of The Unfriend. (Photos by Craig Sugden)*

See rehearsal photos for ‘The Unfriend,' starring Lee Mack

new crop Lee Mack the unfriend 1200x600 photo Craig Sugden

The Unfriend - LON [26431]

The Unfriend

Fresh from breaking Box Office records earlier this year, prepare to welcome The Unfriend back to the West End for a strictly limited run at Wyndham’s Theatre from 16 December.

The celebrated team behind Sherlock, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, bring a new comedy about a couple who make the wrong friend abroad to London’s West End.

Hello, Imelda! One of the buzziest West End openings of 2024 sees the incredible Imelda Staunton starring in Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart’s beloved musical [*Hello, Dolly!*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/37374-hello-dolly). The revival, directed by Dominic Cooke (who worked his magic with Stephen Sondheim’s *Follies* at the National Theatre), plays at the [London Palladium](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/london-palladium) from July.

Staunton takes on the iconic role of indomitable matchmaker Dolly Levi, previously played by the likes of Carol Channing, Barbra Streisand, Mary Martin, and Bette Midler. She’s joined in this London revival by an amazing cast featuring Jenna Russell, Andy Nyman, Tyrone Huntley, and Harry Hepple. 

Herman’s wonderful score includes enduring numbers like “Put On Your Sunday Clothes,” “Before the Parade Passes By,” “Ribbons Down My Back,” “Elegance,” “It Only Takes a Moment,” and the great title number. Get ready for Staunton’s next great performance by looking back at her remarkable career on stage and screen.

Book [*Hello, Dolly!* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/37374-hello-dolly) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=37374&content_product_id=37374&venue_id=165&product_type=show&qt=2)

## Imelda Staunton’s beginnings

Imelda Staunton was born in north London in 1956. Her parents – first-generation immigrants from Ireland – worked as a hairdresser and a labourer, and the family home was over her mother’s salon. They were a musical clan, too: her mother could play the fiddle and the accordion.

Staunton first took an interest in acting while at school, playing roles such as Polly in *The Beggar’s Opera*. She auditioned for several drama schools and won a place at RADA, graduating in 1976.

## Imelda Staunton on stage

Staunton made her professional start performing at venues like Exeter’s Northcott Theatre, and playing starring roles early on – such as George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan. She then began her successful association with the National Theatre, returning to *The Beggar’s Opera* to play Lucy Lockit in 1982. That scored her the first of her 13 Olivier Award nominations.

A major revival of *Guys and Dolls* that same year at the [National Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/national-theatre) saw Staunton win acclaim and another nomination for her Miss Adelaide (taking over the role from Julia McKenzie) and introduced her to her husband Jim Carter. 

Staunton won her first Olivier in 1985 for her work in two shows: Emlyn Williams’s *The Corn is Green* at the [Old Vic](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/old-vic-theatre) and Alan Ayckbourn’s *A Chorus of Disapproval* at the National. In 1988, she played Sonya in Anton Chekhov’s *Uncle Vanya* in the West End, and she scored another Olivier nod for her Dorothy in *The Wizard of Oz* at the [Barbican](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/barbican). 

Her intense interpretation of Sondheim roles began with an Olivier-winning Baker’s Wife in the original London production of *Into the Woods* at the [Phoenix Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/phoenix-theatre) in 1990. However, the next few years saw Staunton mainly appearing in plays, such as Yasmina Reza’s *Life x 3* at the National, Joe Orton’s *Entertaining Mr Sloane* in the West End, and Edward Albee’s *A Delicate Balance* at the [Almeida Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/almeida-theatre).

But in 2011 came Staunton’s definitive Mrs Lovett in *Sweeney Todd*, opposite [Michael Ball](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/michael-ball), at the Chichester Festival Theatre, and then 2014 saw her astonishing Rose in *Gypsy* – first at Chichester, then in the West End. Both saw Staunton win more Olivier Awards.

Staunton returned to drama for a towering Martha in Albee’s *Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?* in the West End in 2017, then switched back to Sondheim for the landmark revival of *Follies* at the National Theatre, playing Sally. Most recently, she appeared in the new version of Alan Bennett’s *Talking Heads* at the [Bridge Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/the-bridge-theatre), in 2020.

![Follies - LT - 1200](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/64xND2CejXRB3Z6ove3p9q/d5b6e0a8f32307477f56697402aef75c/follies-imelda-staunton.jpeg)

## Imelda Staunton in film

Staunton made her big-screen debut in the 1986 historical movie *Comrades*. She appeared in the British ensemble film *Peter’s Friends* in 1992, and she had supporting roles in the Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson-led *Much Ado About Nothing* in 1993, and the Thompson-led and scripted *Sense and Sensibility* in 1995.

More Shakespeare followed with the film adaptation of *Twelfth Night* in 1996, and then the Oscar-winning *Shakespeare in Love* in 1998, in which Staunton played nurse to Gwyneth Paltrow’s noblewoman. She added her voice to 2000 animation *Chicken Run* (and is returning for its upcoming sequel), and appeared in Stephen Fry’s Evelyn Waugh adaptation *Bright Young Things* in 2003.

However, it wasn’t until 2004 that cinemagoers really saw what Staunton can do. She played the title role, a backstreet abortionist in 1950, in Mike Leigh’s searing drama *Vera Drake*; the film won the Golden Lion at Venice, while Leigh and Staunton were both nominated for Oscars and won BAFTAs.

Staunton was memorably creepy as the villainous Dolores Umbridge in *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*, in 2007, and she reprised the role in its sequel *The Deathly Hallows – Part 1* in 2010. She also reunited with Leigh in 2010 for *Another Year*, and was part of a magnificent ensemble in the British film *Pride* in 2014.

Staunton voiced Aunt Lucy in the *Paddington* films in 2014 and 2017 (and is set to do so again in the upcoming *Paddington in Peru*). She played a fairy in the *Maleficent* films in 2014 and 2019 and joined the *Downton Abbey* cast for its big-screen outings in 2019 and 2022.

![Imelda Staunton in A Lady of Letters, part of the Talking Heads series](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/2lM9kpzmFfJYTVibe3aBkB/e2a183122e18cf92819a0b3f26c6a5b9/Imelda_1200x600.png)

## Imelda Staunton on TV

Staunton’s TV career began with an episode of the *Playhouse* anthology series in 1982. Guest roles followed, including in *The Singing Detective* in 1986, and she starred in the romantic comedy series *Up the Garden Path* from 1990-93.

Staunton led the black comedy *If You See God, Tell Him* in 1993, the American TV drama *Citizen X* in 1995, and the British sitcom *Is It Legal?* from 1995-98. She also guest-starred in the Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie sketch show *A Bit of Fry and Laurie*, and she played The Prioress in the TV adaptation of Chaucer’s *Canterbury Tales* in 1998.

More period drama followed with *David Copperfield* in 1999, *Cambridge Spies* in 2003 (in which Staunton played The Queen Mother), *Fingersmith* in 2005, and *Cranford* in 2007. Staunton also played Louisa Durrell in *My Family and Other Animals* in 2005.

Staunton guest-starred in the horror series *Psychoville* in 2010 and played The Interface in an episode of *Doctor Who* in 2011. The following year, she won acclaim – and an Emmy nomination – for playing the wife of Alfred Hitchcock in HBO’s *The Girl*.

Staunton once again teamed up with Michael Ball for Victoria Wood’s *That Day We Sang* in 2014, and, in 2020, she starred in the thriller *Flesh and Blood*, performed one of Bennett’s *Talking Heads* monologues, and joined the cast of comedy series *Trying*.

Most recently, Staunton took on her biggest TV role to date: playing Elizabeth II in the fifth and sixth seasons of royal drama *The Crown* on Netflix. Staunton got a Golden Globe nomination for her regal portrayal of the late monarch, and she reprises the role for the final instalment of the series this month.

It will be a right royal pleasure to see Staunton back on stage in *Hello, Dolly!* – her first musical since that wonderful *Follies*. Tickets are bound to go fast, so don’t wait too long to plan your trip in 2024.

Book [*Hello, Dolly!* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/37374-hello-dolly) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=37374&content_product_id=37374&venue_id=165&product_type=show&qt=2)

*Photo credit: Imelda Staunton in Follies at the National Theatre (Photo by Johan Persson)*

*Imelda Staunton in Lady of Letters at the Bridge Theatre (Photo by Zac Nicholson)*

Learn more about Imelda Staunton's career ahead of 'Hello, Dolly!'

Imelda Staunton - LT - 1200x600

No under 4s admitted. Booster seats are not permitted on the Royal Circle and Grand Circle levels for health and safety reasons.

Hello, Dolly! - LON

Hello, Dolly!

Imelda Staunton will be back where she belongs in Hello, Dolly! next summer, as one of the most iconic musicals of all time comes to The London Palladium.

Imelda Staunton returns to the West End in summer 2024 to star in a major revival of Jerry Herman's classic musical *Hello, Dolly!* at the London Palladium.

The National Theatre has set its full cast for *Till the Stars Come Down*, a new play by Beth Steel. Performances begin on 24 January and run until 16 March.

Philip Whitchurch joins the previously announced cast of Lorraine Ashbourne, Lucy Black, Lisa McGrillis, Sinéad Matthews, Derek Riddell, Ruby Stokes, Alan Williams, and Marc Wootton. 

Young performers Maggie Livermore, Cadence Williams, and Bodhi Rae Breathnach share the role of Sarah.

The play, which opens at the Dorfman and marks Steel’s mainstage debut at the National, is set during a wedding over the course of a hot summer’s day. As a family prepares to welcome a newcomer into the fold, passions rise and the limits of love are tested.

The creative team includes director Bijan Sheibani (*[A Taste of Honey](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/reviews/review-a-taste-of-honey-at-trafalgar-studios), Barber Shop Chronicles*), set and costume designer Samal Blak, lighting designer Paule Constable, choreographer and movement director Aline David, sound designer Gareth Fry, fight director Kev McCurdy, intimacy coordinator Asha Jennings-Grant, staff director Stephan Mysko von Schultze, casting director Alastair Coomer CDG and children’s casting Chloe Blake.

Check back for information about *Till the Stars Come Down* tickets on London Theatre.

*Photo credit: the cast of Till the Stars Come Down. (Photo courtesy of the production)*

‘Till the Stars Come Down’ announces full cast at National Theatre 

till the stars come down 1200x600 LT x2 (1)

Former National Theatre writer-in-residence Beth Steel makes her mainstage debut with a play about a family struggling to come to terms with a changing world.

It only takes a moment to realise why [*Hello, Dolly!*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/37374-hello-dolly), starring the inimitable [Imelda Staunton](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/imelda-staunton), should be on your list of musicals to see in the West End in 2024. 

Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart’s musical follows widow and meddling socialite Dolly Levi, who ventures to New York to find a match for the miserly, unmarried "half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder. However, everything changes when she decides that the next match she makes will be for herself.

After a series of delays, the musical finally finds a home at the [London Palladium](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/london-palladium) in 2024, so don’t wait to grab your *Hello, Dolly!* tickets on London Theatre.

## Say hello to Imelda!

Even if you’ve never seen *Hello, Dolly!*, you’ve definitely heard of Imelda Staunton. She has graced the screen in box office hits such as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and, more recently, Netflix’s royal drama The Crown, as the late Queen Elizabeth II. But she also has a long and much-lauded [career on the stage](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/learn-more-about-imelda-stauntons-career-ahead-of-hello-dolly), earning her 13 Olivier Award nominations.

Plus, her return to the stage also means a reunion with director Dominic Cooke, with whom she worked on the stunning 2017 revival of Stephen Sondheim’s *Follies* at the [National Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/national-theatre).  

## A series of delays hasn’t stopped *Hello, Dolly!* from making it to the West End.

The theatre industry suffered some crushing blows during the pandemic, and *Hello, Dolly!* is no exception. Initially scheduled to open in 2020 for a 30-week run at the [Adelphi Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/adelphi-theatre), the production was put on ice. With the Adelphi now housing the sci-fi musical [*Back to the Future*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/22396-back-to-the-future-the-musical-tickets), the show moved to the London Palladium, which means a greater seating capacity (2,300 seats!) and a 10-week run. So if you want to catch this much-anticipated and long-delayed musical while it’s in the West End, the time is now! 

## The *Hello, Dolly!* cast is brimming with talent. 

While Staunton undeniably provides the star power for *Hello, Dolly!*, she is just one ofjoined by an incredibly talented group of performers. Olivier Award-winning actress Jenna Russell, who gave critically acclaimed performances in *Sunday in the Park with George, Merrily We Roll Along*, and *Fun Home*, is Irene Molloy. Andy Nyman, best known for his horror play *Ghost Stories*, is Horace Vandergelder. Tyrone Huntley, who portrayed Judas in *Jesus Christ Superstar*, is Barnaby Tucker, and Harry Hepple, set to return to [*Hamilton*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/20561-hamilton-tickets) next year, plays Cornelius Hackl.  

## *Hello, Dolly!* has a winning writing team.

Hello, Dolly! is a classic show from powerhouses Jerry Herman (music and lyrics) and Michael Stewart (book). Herman is best known for composing the music and lyrics for *Mame* and *La Cage aux Folles*, while Stewart authored Broadway musicals including *Bye Bye Birdie* and *42nd Street*.

With Herman’s death in December 2019, this production of *Hello, Dolly!* takes on an even greater significance: Staunton and Cooke reportedly received permission to move around the show’s opening scenes and change one of its songs before he died.

## Who doesn’t love a strong female lead?

*Hello, Dolly!* regularly attracts talented actors to the title role: Carol Channing, Ethel Merman, Pearl Bailey, Mary Martin, Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters and, perhaps most famously, the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award-winning singer and actress Barbra Streisand. Phew!

Now’s your chance to sing along to hits made famous by some of the most talented women in the business, such as "Put On Your Sunday Clothes," "Before the Parade Passes By," and "It Only Takes a Moment." It’s so nice to have this classic back where it belongs.

Book [*Hello, Dolly!* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/37374-hello-dolly) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=37374&content_product_id=37374&venue_id=165&product_type=show&qt=2)

Why 'Hello, Dolly!' starring Imelda Staunton is a must-see summer musical

hello dolly-1200x600-LT

Find out why this much-loved classic, which is heading for the London Palladium for a 10-week run starting in July, should be on your 2024 theatre wish list.

[*Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36246-cruel-intentions-the-90s-musical) has set initial casting for its run at [The Other Palace](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/the-other-palace) in London, ahead of the performance start date on 11 January.

The *Cruel Intentions* London cast includes Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky as Kathryn, Daniel Bravo as Sebastian, Abbie Budden as Annette, Rose Galbraith as Cecile, Josh Barnett as Blaine, Jess Buckby as Ms Bunny Caldwell / Dr Greenbaum, Nickcolia King-N’Da as Ronald, and Barney Wilkinson as Greg. Further casting will be announced in due course.

The musical follows stepsiblings Kathryn and Sebastian, who make a bet to see if Sebastian can seduce the virtuous daughter of their elite high school's headmaster. Based on the hit 1999 film starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair, the *Cruel Intentions* musical features a score of pop hits from the 1990s.

Book [*Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/36246-cruel-intentions-the-90s-musical) on London Theatre now.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=36246&content_product_id=36246&venue_id=782&product_type=show&qt=2)

*Photo credit: Josh Barnett, Daniel Bravo, Jess Buckby, Abbie Budden,  
Rose Galbraith, Nickcolia King-N’Da, Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky, and Barney Wilkinson. (Photos courtesy of production)*

'Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical' sets London cast

cruel intentions-1200x600-LT

Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical - LON 

Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical

A must-see experience in New York and Los Angeles and following a sold-out, critically-acclaimed production in the Assembly Palais du Variété spiegeltent at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical, finally hits London.


The Other Palace will present the jukebox musical adaptation of the hit 1999 movie, with performances beginning on 11 January for a limited 14-week run.

The world premiere of [*Just For One Day*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35497-just-for-one-day) in the West End has announced its full cast, with performances beginning at the [Old Vic](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/old-vic-theatre) on 26 January.

The *Just For One Day* cast includes Jason Battersby, Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong, Olly Dobson, Joe Edgar, Kerry Enright, Jo Foster, Collette Guitart, Eddie Mann, AJ Lewis, Joel Montague, Rachel Moran, Abiona Omonua, Jack Shalloo, Danielle Steers, Tamara Tare, and Dyd Wynford.

They join the previously announced Julie Atherton, Ashley Campbell, Jackie Clune, Craige Els, James Hameed, Naomi Katiyo, Hope Kenna, Freddie Love, Emily Ooi, and Rhys Wilkinson.

The new musical by John O’Farrell (*[Mrs Doubtfire](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/24395-mrs.-doubtfire), Something Rotten*) tells the story of the 1985 fundraising concert Live Aid, which saw 70 artists across London and Philadelphia perform for free, raising $127 million for charity.

The musical features songs by Bob Dylan, David Bowie, The Who, U2, Queen, The Police, Elton John, Paul McCartney, The Pretenders, and more.

Luke Sheppard (*[& Juliet](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/reviews/review-max-martin-musical-and-juliet-shaftesbury-theatre), [The Little Big Things](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/30038-the-little-big-things)*) directs. “It is a great privilege to have such extraordinary artists join our company,” he said in a statement. “This piece is all about the power of people coming together and I can’t wait to see what this group of brilliant performers will achieve on the legendary Old Vic stage.”

The creative team includes set designer Soutra Gilmour, costume designer Fay Fullerton, lighting designer Howard Hudson, musical supervisor and orchestrator Matthew Brind, choreographer Ebony Molina, sound designer Gareth Owen, and video and animation designer Andrzej Goulding.

Book [*Just For One Day* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/35497-just-for-one-day) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=35497&content_product_id=35497&venue_id=191&product_type=show&qt=2)

*Photo credit: the cast of Just For One Day. (Photo courtesy of production)*

‘Just For One Day’ reveals full West End cast

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Just For One Day | Old Vic - LON

Just For One Day

Relive the day music brought the world together.   

The jukebox musical brings the story of Live Aid to the stage at the Old Vic next year, featuring songs from Bob Dylan and David Bowie, among others.

The multi-award-winning play *Red Pitch* is set to transfer to the West End’s newest venue @sohoplace for a strictly limited seven-week run beginning 15 March. The play will replace *The Little Big Things,* which runs until 2 March.

The play, written by Tyrell Williams, will return with its original cast: Kedar Williams-Stirling (*Sex Education*), Emeka Sesay (*The Power*) and Francis Lovehall (*Small Axe*). Bush Theatre’s associate artistic director Daniel Bailey directs.

[In a four-star review on London Theatre, our critic said:](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/reviews/red-pitch-review-bush-theatre) “The play works as both a striking portrait of friendship rent asunder but also reinforced, and as a separate enquiry into a community under threat.”

Originally performed at the Bush Theatre in February 2022, the production has won a number of awards including the George Devine Award and Best New Play at the OffWestEnd Awards. Writer Williams was named Best Writer at the Stage Debut Awards, Most Promising Playwright at the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and was awarded the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright.

Red Pitch follows three friends and local London boys Omz, Bilal and Joey, who live in an area that is being steadily gentrified. The play explores the impact of this change on London’s communities.

The play, which opens with previews on 15 March and runs until 4 May, is produced by Chuchu Nwagu, Adam Kenwright and Nica Burns.

Book [*Red Pitch* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/37504-red-pitch) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=37504&content_product_id=37504&venue_id=54939502&product_type=show&qt=2)

*Photo credit: the cast of Red Pitch. (Photo by Helen Murray)*

‘Red Pitch’ to transfer to @sohoplace in the West End in 2024

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Red Pitch - LON [37504] 

Red Pitch

Red Pitch, celebrated by critics as a “remarkable, next-level coming-of-age story”  by acclaimed writer Tyrell Williams, transfers to London’s newest West End theatre, @sohoplace, following 2 sold-out, award-winning runs at the Bush Theatre.

Tyrell Williams’s play about the pressures of gentrification opens with previews on 15 March and the cast includes Sex Education’s Kedar Williams-Stirling.

Go on a journey to the Upside Down! [*Stranger Things: The First Shadow*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/29263-stranger-things-the-first-shadow) has released new West End production photos, offering a sneak peek into the hit TV series's supernatural world at London’s [Phoenix Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/phoenix-theatre).

Created by writer Jack Thorne, director Stephen Daldry, and producer Sonia Friedman, the stage prequel to the Duffer Brothers’ popular Netflix streaming series is set in the 1950s. *Stranger Things: The First Shadow* features much-loved characters including Joyce Maldonado and Jim Hopper.

Check out photos of the cast in this exciting and otherworldly new production, booking now until 25 August.

Book [*Stranger Things: The First Shadow* tickets](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/29263-stranger-things-the-first-shadow) on London Theatre.

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=29263&content_product_id=29263&venue_id=126)

![stranger things 1200x600 LT (2)](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/169ySVoEWtrjngXoFTm6O9/7a8bf59ddba49bd3d96838f12589d5ec/stranger_things_1200x600_LT__2_.jpg)

![stranger things 1200x600 LT (3)](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/4fIauOPBpoIdcMiG5OvWwc/83859aa9d1aaf6ccc1c3211e51089d73/stranger_things_1200x600_LT__3_.jpg)

![stranger things 1200x600 LT (4)](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/2lJ4EXtvU94YNNXuU9LgZK/93b23c78ea037e0cbf497106c617323c/stranger_things_1200x600_LT__4_.jpg)

![stranger things 1200x600 LT (5)](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/73gv9EE7xJkK9vxt2e214F/d1df59deee25bf5d995ebb5756f64c83/stranger_things_1200x600_LT__5_.jpg)

![stranger things 1200x600 LT (6)](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/7ssK2Il7q4f4SgKIaNsDiJ/a482f20fb30f3e2f9a97c3eb5182920d/stranger_things_1200x600_LT__6_.jpg)

![stranger things 1200x600 LT (7)](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3y0YwQRhYHZfeOfewPq9e1/84b424f53d2e6ea00778974b3d7607d9/stranger_things_1200x600_LT__7_.jpg)

![stranger things 1200x600 LT (8)](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/40Atyu800xTwAASum0rNYw/08661bda7cd8d7b648a976b129db308d/stranger_things_1200x600_LT__8_.jpg)

![stranger things 1200x600 LT (9)](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/4fJUrWDOGrE4S4dzWNuVfI/1ed6e059092764cfad120f15195f4783/stranger_things_1200x600_LT__9_.jpg)

![stranger things 1200x600 LT (10)](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1B0MGyAT3UpEtLbMTXOiUO/f9feaec7f98c5107055acb7f1880cbfa/stranger_things_1200x600_LT__10_.jpg)

![stranger things 1200x600 LT](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/2NGsjw83aiWdSKkeuZQfsY/6db4839264f6a788c7d8266e2e85059d/stranger_things_1200x600_LT.jpg)

*Photo credit: the cast of Stranger Things. (Photos courtesy of production)*

See photos of ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ in the West End

stranger things 1200x600 LT

stranger things 1200x600 LT (10)

Recommended 12+. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult. Under 5s not permitted.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow - LON

Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Brought to life by a multi-award-winning creative team, who take theatrical storytelling and stagecraft to a whole new dimension, this gripping new adventure will take you right back to the beginning of the Stranger Things story – and may hold the key to the end.


Take a trip to the small town of Hawkins as Netflix’s hit show comes to London’s West End for the first time, in a production directed by Stephen Daldry.

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You can’t wait to meet her.

El Barco is the newest tapas restaurant in fashionable Walthamstow Village, and it’s Kerry Jackson’s pride and joy.

Wearing her working-class roots as a badge of honour, Kerry navigates the local characters in a bid to make the business a success – without losing herself in the process.

Algolia Theatre: National Theatre Productions

Kerry Jackson LON London Theatre

Kerry Jackson

[*Kerry Jackson*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/26191-kerry-jackson-tickets) looks unlikely to do for Walthamstow, east London, what *Shirley Valentine* did for Liverpool, though both plays foreground women finding their way in middle age and looking to satisfy their libidos.  

But so offputting is the title character of April De Angelis’s play, and repellent the extent to which those around Kerry are patronised or worse, that you come away baffled as to how this work got so far. There’s not been a more puzzling new play this year, and very few that have been as unsatisfying. 

Fay Ripley, sporting a thick estuary accent that is itself often played for laughs, plays Kerry, who is intended, the programme tells us, as an antidote to the likeminded liberals that Walthamstow resident De Angelis has tired of seeing centre stage. “I wanted to put someone different on stage,” the author of such fine plays as *Jumpy* quite sensibly explains in a programme interview, so as to let her characters dictate the story.

Why is it then that so much of *Kerry Jackson* seems inauthentic and often times ridiculous, as if the characters had been conceived purely to exhibit a careful cross-section of conflicting traits that somehow might coalesce? 

By the time the play has dispensed with a homeless person who exists within the gerrymandered writing only so he can die, playgoers may start to wish that they, rather as Kerry herself at one point does, had cosied up instead to Ibsen’s *A Doll’s House.* (This enquiry into the dramatic canon from a woman who says she doesn’t know what a sociologist is.) 

Ardent Leave voter Kerry is sufficiently European-minded that she decides to partake of Walthamstow’s gentrification by opening a tapas bar there called El Barco, presumably so that cheap laughs can be gleaned from this newfound proprietor’s tortured pronunciation of the Spanish wines she serves. The eatery is in “Walthamstow village”, and Kerry protracts that second word into within an inch of its mock-Gallic life. 

Her staff at first consists solely of a Black chef, Athena (the likeable Madeline Appiah), who somehow sticks it out with Kerry to the final curtain, even if most employees in this situation would have run a mile at the first opportunity. The complication here is that Athena is working illegally, so doesn’t have the freedom to take flight. 

Also on the payroll, albeit funded by her philosophy-loving father, is a brainy student called Alice (Kitty Hawthorne), who is spending her gap year grieving the death of her mum and whose liberal-leaning dad, Stephen (Michael Gould), is having a fling with Kerry. 

She, in turn, has an additional suitor in an ex-policeman, Warren (Gavin Spokes), whose own xenophobia gets a work-out as people turn on a dime from the abrasive to the sentimental and back again, various karaoke interludes there to jolly things along like something out of *Mamma Mia!* 

There’s a (literally) distasteful culinary segue late in the second act guaranteed to put spectators off their dinner, alongside token nods in the direction of sexual harassment, white privilege, and, if you please, Naomi Wolf’s *The Beauty Myth*: apparently no one told this assemblage that the author of that seminal 1990 work some while ago realigned herself as a conspiracy-minded anti-vaxxer so doesn’t these days carry a whole lot of weight. 

Most troubling, at least for me, is the inclusion of a local homeless man, Will (Michael Fox), who is troublingly derided for his lavatorial habits and “dirty face” when in fact the character here gives no indication of living rough at all. (Fox looks clean as a whistle.) 

The marginalised in today’s society are so rarely given stage time that it’s a shame to find Will so devalued, of use mainly for the gratuitous ad hoc funeral prompted by his death when suddenly he is made to be of consequence. (That scene, too, is played for an ugly, crass humour worsened by not allowing the character a right of reply.)

Indhu Rubasingham, the director, oversaw the triumphant National Theatre premiere earlier this year of *The Father and the Assassin*, which returns to the repertoire next year, and one can only assume that she was hamstrung on this occasion by writing that seems to come with an inbuilt laugh track. 

*Cold Feet* alumna Ripley, in a rare return to the stage, certainly gives the enterprise her all, and you feel an attempt made here and there to raise Kerry to the so-awful-she’s-wonderful status of, say, Beverly in *Abigail’s Party*: alas, no such luck. 

But as Richard Kent’s turntable set swerves this way and that, so does a putative state-of-the-nation sitcom that at least deserves credit for being an equal opportunity offender: Warren, on cue, does a cringe-making faux-Polish accent. 

The final scene posits a way forward for two antithetical personalities that is entirely preposterous. No matter: By that point, I’d clocked Kerry’s self-comparison to “a bad fairy” – in which case perhaps she’d be more at home in the musical *Hex* next door.

[*Kerry Jackson is at the National Theatre to 28 January.*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/26191-kerry-jackson-tickets)

*Photo credit: Madeline Appiah (Athena) and Fay Ripley (Kerry) in Kerry Jackson at the National Theatre (Photo by Marc Brenner)*

'Kerry Jackson' review — an offensive state-of-the-nation sitcom

Kerry Jackson - 1200 - LT

Kerry Jackson - LON

The Dorfman Theatre is the smallest of three spaces that make the [National Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/national-theatre) — joined by the [Olivier Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/olivier-theatre-national) and the [Lyttelton Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/lyttelton-theatre-national). 

The Dorfman entrance is on the east side of the National Theatre, on Stage Door Avenue, opposite the IBM building. The theatre was formerly known as the Cottesloe Theatre.

Due to the flexibility of the staging, the seating is different for almost every production. The flexible seating system can be raised and lowered in minutes, or the seats ccan be folded to create a flat foor.

Performances can be staged in a conventional format at one end; in “traverse”, lengthways or across the space; or in the round. The theatre is reminiscent of the inn-yards that preceded Shakespeare's stages as performance areas.

National Theatre - Dorfman - LON

Dorfman Theatre

Meet Kerry Jackson. She's a working-class woman who owns a tapas restaurant. Can she make the business a success?
Fay Ripley stars in April de Angelis's latest play.
See *Kerry Jackson* at the National Theatre today.

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