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Complete West End theatre guide: Shows, venues, and more

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Your hub for all things London theatre. Find recommendations, advice, and in-depth information about shows, restaurants, bars, and more in the West End.

Further casting has been announced for Duncan Macmillan and Thomas Ostermeier’s new version of Chekhov’s *The Seagull*, which opens at the Barbican Theatre in London from February 2025 for a six-week run.

Joining the previously announced Cate Blanchett as Arkadina and Tom Burke as Trigorin are Priyanga Burford (Polina), Emma Corrin (Nina), Zachary Hart (Medvedenko), Paul Higgins (Shamrayev), Tanya Reynolds (Masha), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Konstantin), and Jason Watkins (Sorin).

Directed by...

Emma Corrin, Tanya Reynolds, and more to join Cate Blanchett in 'The Seagull'

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Priyanga Burford (*An Enemy of the People*), Emma Corrin (*The Crown, Orlando*), and Olivier Award winner Tanya Reynolds (*A Mirror*) join the cast of Chekhov’s masterpiece.

Seeing a West End show during the Christmas period will add a festive flair to any trip to London. Throughout the Christmas season, many West End shows will add more performances, giving you even more opportunity to catch the shows you've missed out on all year. Or if you're looking to find an extra-special present for somebody this Christmas, why not take that special someone to a show on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. 

We've listed all the West End performances...

All the West End shows you can see at Christmas

West End

From *Guys & Dolls* to *Wicked* and *The Lion King*, this is your ultimate list of shows that will be playing in the West End during the Christmas period.

New lead casting has been announced for *[Hadestown](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/24465-hadestown-tickets)* in the West End, as the production extends its booking period through 28 September 2025.

Trevor Dion Nicholas, who recently starred in *Next to Normal* in the West End, will play Hades, while Rachel Tucker (*Sunset Boulevard, [Wicked](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/313-wicked-tickets), Come From Away*) will play Persephone. They will appear in the production until 9 February...

Rachel Tucker and Trevor Dion Nicholas join the cast of 'Hadestown' in London

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Trevor Dion Nicholas recently starred in *Next to Normal* in the West End, while Rachel Tucker is known for her performances in *Sunset Boulevard*, *Wicked*, and *Come From Away.* 

One for the road! [*The Choir of Man*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/23760-the-choir-of-man-tickets) has announced that its final performances at the Arts Theatre in the West End will be on 31 December, as the venue closes for planned redevelopment.

The show, which follows nine performers as they bring chart classics to life in a pub environment, opened in the West End in October 2021 and has welcomed over 280,000 audience members through its doors.

Future plans for the show in London...

'The Choir of Man' to close in West End as venue undergoes redevelopment

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*The Choir of Man* first opened at the Arts Theatre in the West End in October 2021 and has welcomed over 280,000 audience members through its doors.

The Royal Shakespeare Company and Good Chance's production of *Kyoto* will transfer to @sohoplace in the West End for a limited 16-week run next year. The show will open on 9 January, running until 3 May.

The political thriller, which was part of Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey’s inaugural programme as RSC Co-Artistic Directors, charts the negotiations leading up to the historic 1997 Kyoto climate summit, which brought about the world’s first legally binding emissions targets. [*Stranger Things:...

'Kyoto' to transfer to the West End's @sohoplace in 2025

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The political thriller charts the negotiations leading up to the historic 1997 Kyoto climate summit, which brought about the world’s first legally binding emissions targets. 

The full cast has been revealed for Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan’s *The Producers*, which opens at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London on 9 December.

Directed by Tony Award winner Patrick Marber (*Leopoldstadt*), *The Producers* tells the story of two underperforming producers who scheme to get rich quick with a Broadway flop.

Joining the previously announced Andy Nyman (*Hello, Dolly!, Fiddler on the Roof, Ghost Stories*) as Max Bialystock, Marc Antolin (*I Wish You Well*) as Leo Bloom,...

Full casting announced for 'The Producers' revival at the Menier Chocolate Factory

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Trevor Ashley and Raj Ghatak join Andy Nyman, Marc Antolin, Harry Morrison, and Joanna Woodward in the musical comedy about two down on their luck producers.

The music of the night will continue to play. One of the longest-running musicals to be produced on the West End and on Broadway, Andrew Lloyd Webber's [*The Phantom of the Opera*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/308-the-phantom-of-the-opera-tickets) extends its booking period to 27 September 2025 at [His Majesty's Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/venues/his-majestys-theatre). 

From the chandelier to the iconic music, with songs like "Masquerade" and "All I Ask of You", one of the...

'The Phantom of the Opera' extends booking period

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The immortal Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, an acclaimed West End staple since 1986, now has tickets available for purchase through September 2025. 

If you have been waiting for tickets for *Godot*, you're in luck. The critically acclaimed production of Samuel Beckett's essential absurdist masterpiece [*Waiting for Godot*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/42509-waiting-for-godot) at [Theatre Royal Haymarket](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/venues/theatre-royal-haymarket) will extend its run an additional week until 21 December. 

The production stars Lucian Msamati as Estragon and Ben Whishaw as Vladimir, two men who wait endlessly for a...

'Waiting for Godot' announces another week of performances

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Due to popular demand and critical acclaim, Samuel Beckett's dark comedy, starring Ben Whishaw and directed by James Macdonald, extends its booking period.

Neither Alexander Hamilton nor Aaron Burr, the protagonists of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical phenomenon, ever came to London. Thomas Jefferson, the Act II antagonist, visited for six weeks in spring 1786. He described the architecture as “in the most wretched stile I ever saw” and "both town and country fell short of my expectations." Ouch. However, Jefferson certainly made the most of the entertainments and shopping the city had to offer. 

On the other hand, Benjamin Franklin, who first visited...

Make a day out of 'Hamilton' in London

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Explore some fascinating Anglo-American ties, including the Benjamin Franklin House, Kew Palace, and two historical churches.

See the Olivier-nominated actor [Emma Corrin](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/emma-corrin) as the title role in *Orlando* at the [Garrick Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/garrick-theatre) to 25 February. Book *Orlando* tickets on London Theatre.

Virginia Woolf’s *Orlando* follows the title character as they embark on a five-century long journey to find out how it's possible to live authentically. In an [*Orlando* review on London Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/reviews/orlando-review-garrick-theatre-emma-corrin), our critic said: “[there’s] joy of seeing Corrin’s androgynous, fiercely independent Orlando slipping in and out of different guises, boldly seeking adventure and growth, and pursuing lovers of the same or opposite sex, simply because that’s where happiness lies.” 

*Orlando* is at the Garrick Theatre.

Book *Orlando* tickets on London Theatre.

![Orlando - 750 - LT](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/4fTisiDUVe6ErpSerejIkJ/5949e7c01184a0ee1173d812bfdb3499/Orlando5-750-061222.jpg)

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*Photo credit: Orlando (Photo courtesy of production)*

First look: Photos released of Emma Corrin in ‘Orlando’ at the Garrick Theatre

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Michael Grandage directs the Golden Globe-winning actor [Emma Corrin](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/emma-corrin) in Virginia Woolf’s *Orlando* at the Garrick Theatre. 

Emma Corrin leads the 11-strong *Orlando* cast, and Michael Grandage directs. The pair previously worked together on the 2022 Michael Grandage Company film, *My Policeman*, starring Harry Styles. Grandage’s previous theatre credits include *The Lieutenant of Inishmore* with Aidan Turner, and *Photograph 51* featuring Nicole Kidman. 

The *Orlando* play is a time-travelling story like no other. Meet Orlando, born as a male in Elizabeth I’s reign. After a sex change in their early 30s, they live through five centuries without aging and meet key figures in English literary history. As Orlando continues to ask thought-provoking questions, the hero-heroine is left with a major question — how can we find the courage to be ourselves?

Although the *Orlando* protagonist is fictional, Woolf's lover and contemporary novelist, Vita Sackville-West, is said to inspire the story. Sackville-West had an open relationship with her husband, Sir Harold Nicholson, and the pair had same-sex relationships before and during their wedding. Sackville-West believed that the feminine side of her personality was attracted to men, while the harsher side leaned to women.

Neil Bartlett adapts Virginia Woolf’s *Orlando* in London. He’s previously collaborated with *War Horse* creators Handspring Theatre Company, as well as the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. 

### Who is Emma Corrin?

Emma Corrin is an award-winning actor. They are best known for playing Lady Diana Spencer in *The Crown*. Corrin made their West End debut in 2021, playing Anna in *Anna X* at the Harold Pinter Theatre and picking up their first Olivier nomination for Best Actress. Corrin plays Orlando in *Orlando*. 

Orlando LON London Theatre

Buy Orlando tickets showing at Garrick Theatre, London. Choose your own seats with the best availability at London Theatre.

Orlando Tickets | Garrick Theatre | London Theatre

Orlando wants to answer one question. What does it mean to be ourselves? Journeying over five centuries, Orlando realises it's a lifelong mission. Emma Corrin stars as the title character in Virginia Woolf's classic. Get *Orlando* tickets at the Garrick Theatre today.

Sadly, we can't live throughout five centuries. But, elements of the *Orlando* story are based on truths. Virginia Woolf's *Orlando* is inspired by Woolf's close friend, Vita Sackville-West, told from the time of her ancestor, Thomas Sackville. 

While Sackville-West was married to her husband, Sir Harold Nicholson, the pair often engaged in consensual same-sex relationships on the side. Sackville-West believed she had a split personality: her dominating side leaned to women, while her passive side was geared towards men. Neil Bartlett adapts Virginia Woolf’s *Orlando* into a joyous, inspiring tale fit for the 21st century. Don't miss the *Orlando* play in London.

## What to Watch For:

- Virginia Woolf’s *Orlando* was published in 1928. Other books published in 1928 include D. H. Lawrence’s *Lady Chatterley’s Lover*, A. A. Milne’s *The House at Pooh Corner*, and Bertolt Brecht’s *The Threepenny Opera*.
- Corrin works alongside director Michael Grandage for *Orlando*. The pair previously collaborated on the 2022 film, *My Policeman*, starring Harry Styles.

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How do we define those most fundamental questions in life: who we are and who we love? And what happens when our feelings about gender, sexuality and identity come into conflict with rigid social structures? A century ago, Virginia Woolf ploughed headlong into what feels like a shockingly modern debate with *[Orlando](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/26188-orlando-tickets)*, her forward-thinking 1928 novel. Now, [Emma Corrin](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/discover-emma-corrin-award-winning-performances-on-tv-in-films-and-on-stage) – who rose to fame as Princess Diana in *The Crown* – stars in a new stage version of Woolf’s remarkable work.

The non-binary-identifying Corrin is particularly exciting casting for Orlando, an Elizabethan nobleman who wakes up one day to find that he is now physically a she, and who then proceeds to question the distinctions of gender as the centuries pass (Orlando is immortal and forever young, too). We know that the character is anatomically male at the start of the production, thanks to a flash of prosthetic genitals, but the transformation is left deliberately, and effectively, ambiguous.

Instead, Woolf’s playful tale shows up the absurdities – why should Orlando have to eat daintily as a woman, but not a man? – and the raging inequalities: Orlando can no longer inherit the family estate when he becomes female. Amusingly, some elements remain the same, too. Society keeps pressuring Orlando to marry, presenting first a collection of eligible wives, then potential husbands. 

*Orlando* is essentially an extraordinary love letter from Woolf to her paramour Vita Sackville-West, written to capture all of her many and contradictory facets. That boundless generosity comes blazing through Neil Bartlett’s adaptation: the joy of seeing Corrin’s androgynous, fiercely independent Orlando slipping in and out of different guises, boldly seeking adventure and growth, and pursuing lovers of the same or opposite sex, simply because that’s where happiness lies. 

There are profound moments that speak soberly to us, as well – most poignantly when Orlando emphasises, twice, that when he changed gender, some people wanted to kill him. That rings out with terrible force during a World Cup in a nation where homosexuality is criminalised, and at a time when many in the trans community face hostility and violence.

Michael Grandage’s nimble production also captures some of Woolf’s formal inventiveness. A chorus of Woolfs (fracturing her identity between them) narrates in fragmented, overlapping, layered language, glorying in the power of words to create and complicate. And a wonderful Deborah Findlay, acting as Orlando’s housekeeper and, here, dresser, breaks the fourth wall with panto vigour.

However, in zipping through hundreds of years in just 90 minutes, Bartlett resorts too often to comic zaniness – *Horrible Histories* style. There are so many quotes and references that it grows distracting, whether it’s lyrics from *Cabaret*, the peerless final line of *Some Like It Hot*, or even a riff on the Just Eat ad, alongside dodgy cod-Shakespearean blank verse.

Likewise, with casting that is cheerily gender- and colour-blind, Orlando ceases to be such a radical figure; it’s just one more person putting on a costume. That means nothing is “real”: not just the exterior constructs that Woolf was challenging, but the people within them as well, reduced to cameos. In particular, I wanted more of Lucy Briers’s world-weary Elizabeth I, and Millicent Wong’s smouldering princess and shrewd sex worker. Lampshading the latter as the “working-class supporting character” in a comic aside doesn’t excuse this use of her.

And yet this *Orlando* worth seeing for Corrin alone. Their performance is a glorious feat of shapeshifting, from wide-eyed boy to swaggering, sexy nobleman and self-possessed lady – while always retaining the soul of the character, their curious mind, quick wit and passionate heart. Corrin’s Orlando feels deeply: “I could taste her,” they gasp as lust overcomes them, and their heartbreak is all-consuming. 

Though Bartlett references how the past can speak to the here and now, his script stops short of really engaging with contemporary concerns. He over-emphasises some fairly obvious takeaways (of course you were better off as a man than a woman in most of recorded history, and still today really) and is too heavy-handed, even slightly tasteless, in how he prefigures Woolf’s suicide. 

But I was charmed by Peter McKintosh’s evocative design, which whisks us from the great frost of 1607 (dry ice and exquisite stillness) to a raucous Russian banquet, sumptuous tent in Constantinople, or the splendour of court – all juxtaposed with blasts of rock music. A flawed but engaging experiment, and one given a beating heart by the magnificent, mercurial Corrin.

*Orlando is at the Garrick Theatre through 25 February. Book Orlando tickets on London Theatre.*

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*Photo credit: Emma Corrin in Orlando (Photo by Marc Brenner)*

'Orlando' review – Emma Corrin is magnificent in this experimental Virginia Woolf adaptation

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Born in Tunbridge Wells in 1995, Emma Corrin is a Golden Globe-winning actress, best known for playing Lady Diana Spencer in Netflix’s *The Crown*. She made her West End debut as Anna in *[Anna X](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/anna-x)* at the [Harold Pinter Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/harold-pinter-theatre).

While at school, Corrin developed a keen interest in the performing arts, eventually taking a gap year by doing a Shakespeare course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. After twelve months at LAMDA, Corrin then began a drama degree at Bristol University, later leaving to pursue Education, English, Drama and the Arts at St John’s College, Cambridge. While studying, Corrin appeared in two films: *Cesare* and *Alex’s Dream*, later graduating from Cambridge University in 2018.

It didn’t take long for Corrin to make her television debut. In 2019, she played Esther Carter in an episode of *Grantchester*, starring alongside Jemma Redgrave and Robson Green. She then played Esme Winikus in *Pennyworth*, an American crime drama using characters from DC Comics. She’s also starred in *Misbehaviour*, a British comedy film with Rhys Ifans, Keeley Hawes, Jessie Buckley and Keira Knightley.

Corrin’s breakout role came in 2020, cast as Diana, Princess of Wales in Netflix’s *The Crown*. She joins an illustrious line up of British actresses in the show, including Claire Foy, Olivia Colman and Helena Bonham Carter. To date, Corrin has won Best Actress categories at the Critics Choice and Golden Globe Awards, with this number likely to grow.

Corrin made her professional stage debut in Joseph Charlton’s play *Anna X*. She played the title character who tries to find herself in a mix of New York parties.

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Born in Tunbridge Wells in 1995, Emma Corrin is a Golden Globe-winning actress, best known for playing Lady Diana Spencer in Netflix’s The Crown. She made her West End debut as Anna in Anna X at the Harold Pinter Theatre.

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The Garrick Theatre is a renowned and historical theatre venue located in the heart of London, Charing Cross Road, near Leicester Square. Opened in 1889, it was named after the stage actor David Garrick. Designed by Walter Emden and C.J. Phipps, it is built with an exquisite blend of classical and baroque architectural styles, giving it a unique touch of elegance. The theatre boasts a theatrical heritage unrivalled in its history of performances, artists, and premieres, hosting a variety of world-class productions ranging from dramatic plays, farces, comedic performances, to Shakespearean plays. With a seating capacity of 656 spread across three levels - stalls, dress circle, and grand circle - the theatre offers an intimate atmosphere, drawing audience closer to the performances and making it a favourite venue for both theatre-goers and performers. Along with the splendid auditorium, the theatre contains bars at each level providing a comfortable space for refreshment. The theatre is equipped with state-of-the-art systems offering excellent audio and visual experiences. A visit to the Garrick Theatre is a step back into time, offering classic London theatre experience in a beautiful and iconic venue. 

## How to Get There
The Garrick Theatre is easily accessible by various modes of transport. If you are using the London Underground, the closest Tube stations are Leicester Square (Northern, Piccadilly) and Charing Cross (Bakerloo, Northern). By bus, several bus routes pass close to the theatre, including the numbers 24, 29 and 176. If driving, the nearest car park is Q-Park Chinatown.

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The Garrick Theatre opened in 1889, and is named after actor David Garrick. When the theatre was built, architects discovered an underground river on the site!

The theatre became associated with comedy in 1982 with a four-year run of the farce *No Sex Please, We’re British*. This was the longest-running show at the Garrick, until J. B. Priestley’s *An Inspector Calls* transferred from the [Aldwych Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/aldwych-theatre) in 1995 and resided for six years.

In recent years, a number of musicals have played here, including *A Little Night Music*, *Chicago*, and *The Scottsboro Boys*. In 2015, [Kenneth Branagh](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/kenneth-branagh) took up residency at the Garrick for a year-long season of plays with his own theatre company. 

## Garrick Theatre Seating Information

The auditorium has three levels – Stalls, Dress Circle and Grand Circle. In the Stalls, the view of the top of the stage is slightly obscured by the overhang of the Dress Circle from Row N onwards. 

In the Dress Circle, the view of the stage is not obscured by the overhang of the Upper Circle, but the ceiling can feeel low for those in the last row. The seats are designed in a horseshoe shape around the theatre and the Dress Circle offers good sightlines.

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The Garrick Theatre, opened in 1889, is associated with comedy and musicals, and has housed popular shows like 'An Inspector Calls'. It features three seating levels.

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The Garrick Theatre is an iconic London venue, known for its architectural elegance, rich history, and hosting top-tier productions.

First look: Photos released of Emma Corrin in ‘Orlando’ at the Garrick Theatre

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