Best theatre to see in London in January

Find out the best shows to see in London in January 2025, including exciting new plays, big West End musicals, and Hollywood A-listers coming to town.

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 2025.

Noel Streatfeild’s children's classic Ballet Shoes is continuing the festive cheer long into 2025 at the National Theatre, while The Years is about to make a triumphant return after rave reviews at the Almeida Theatre in 2024. Kyoto, about the world's first climate emissions targets, heads to @sohoplace and Brie Larson is set to make her West End debut in the Greek tragedy Elektra.

Book tickets to London shows in January on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Ballet Shoes, National Theatre

Noel Streatfeild’s debut children’s story, Ballet Shoes, became a major hit with young readers in 1936 and was a runner up for the very first Carnegie Medal from the Library Association that same year. It tells the story of three adopted sisters who are sent to live at the London home of a travelling professor under the care of his daughter and her former nanny. As they grow, the sisters attend stage school and their individual passions start to branch out in different directions. Now the story comes to the Oliver Theatre at The National, in a new stage version directed by Katy Rudd (The Ocean at the End of the Lane) and written by Kendall Feaver (The Almighty Sometimes).

Book Ballet Shoes tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

The Years, Harold Pinter Theatre

Having five different women play the central character in this adaptation of Annie Ernaux’s moving memoir gives the production a multi-faceted take on the female experience. Deborah Findlay, Romola Garai, Gina McKee, Anjli Mohindra and Harmony Rose-Bremner play the unnamed woman at different stages of her life, highlighting historical events such as the birth of the Pill, 9/11 and the rise of Le Pen and the French far right through the prism of personal experience. It’s an emotional – and at times visceral – ride, so be prepared!

Book The Years tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Kyoto, @sohoplace

In the wake of the recent divisions at COP29, this punchy political drama about world leaders battling to save the planet couldn’t be more timely. Stephen Kunken gives a bravura performance as the play’s narrator – Machiavellian oil lobbyist Don Pearlman, whose droll cynicism continually acts as a roadblock to international agreement on climate targets. Writers Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson (The Jungle) have teamed up with directors Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin (Stranger Things: The First Shadow) for this RSC production, which proved a huge hit last summer in Stratford- upon-Avon.

Book Kyoto tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Corteo, Royal Albert Hall

Cirque du Soleil is like the Moët & Chandon of contemporary circus performance, and this new show marks the company’s 40-year anniversary. Promising the usual blend of breathtaking acrobatics (which in this case includes swinging from the chandeliers), the story centres on a clown called Mauro who watches from a hinterland between heaven and earth as a group of revellers celebrate his life. The majestic setting of the Royal Albert Hall is sure to make this a circus show par excellence.

Book Corteo tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Elektra, Duke of York's Theatre

Academy Award winner Brie Larson (Room, Lessons in Chemistry) makes her West End debut in this first major revival of the Sophocles tragedy in over a decade. Daniel Fish (Oklahoma!) directs the new translation from Canadian poet Anne Carson – no stranger to the Greek dramatist following her bold translation of Antigone. The action focuses on the grief-stricken Elektra who vows to avenge her father’s assassination with the help of her brother Orestes, with predictably bloody results.

Book Elektra tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Giselle, London Coliseum

One of the first ballets to feature a female protagonist, Giselle has become a prominent feature of the canon and firm favourite with dance lovers. It follows the doomed love affair between the titular peasant girl and the nobleman Albrecht – an alliance that leads to heartbreak, ghostly vengeance and redemption. This English National Ballet production is only at the Coliseum for a very limited run (15-18 January), so book tickets early to avoid disappointment.

Book Giselle tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Second Best, Riverside Studios

If you’re a fan of the “what if” scenario, you’ll love this bittersweet tale about the fictional Martin Hill, who as an eager 10-year-old made it down to the final two contenders to play Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, only to ultimately lose out to his rival. Now an adult on the brink of fatherhood, Martin mulls over the impact of life’s lost opportunities and the arbitrary hand of fate. Sex Education’s Asa Butterfield makes his theatre debut in Barney Norris’s adaptation of the best-selling David Foenkinos novel.

Book Second Best tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

The Tempest, Theatre Royal Drury Lane

The Bard is back at the Lane after an absence of more than 60 years with Jamie Lloyd’s starry new production, the first in a short Shakespeare season. Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Avatar) makes her West End debut in the role of Prospero, the overthrown Duke of Milan with a penchant for sorcery and a thirst for revenge. Lloyd was laden with plaudits and prizes for his innovative staging of Sunset Boulevard, so it will be interesting to see how he approaches one of Shakespeare’s most magical texts. The cast also includes Jude Akuwudike, Selina Cadell, Mathew Horne, Forbes Masson and Mason Alexander Park.

Book The Tempest tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk