Top 10 Best Plays in London 2025
The West End is synonymous with the bright lights, gripping plots and soaring melodies of the very best theatre shows in London, and if you're looking for intimate dramas, rib-tickling comedies and gripping whodunnits, there is nowhere we'd recommend more! Big names are a familiar sight in West End plays so you’ve even got the chance to see your favourite actor live on stage!
Major revivals, bold new work and magical book-to-stage adaptations make the best plays in London a bright and varied bunch no matter your tastes. If you’re not sure where to start, here are the shows we think will make your next trip to the theatre the best yet.
Picked your perfect play? Check out London plays, for the next 7 days for offers, the latest availability and discounts for shows in London over the next 7 days!
1. My Neighbour Totoro: Studio Ghibli magically realised on stage
Find your spirit with tickets to the "awe-inspiring" (Time Out) West End transfer of Studio Ghibli's beloved film on stage. This six-time Olivier Award winning play is a breathtaking triumph from the Royal Shakespeare Company and Joe Hisaishi that has already enjoyed two sold-out seasons at the Barbican Theatre. Now, it is one of 2025's biggest theatre events for anyone who wants to escape into a world of whimsy, sisterhood and childhood imagination.
2. Stranger Things: phenomenal theatre in a new dimension
3. The Importance of Being Earnest: a truly Wilde party!
“Wilde would be wild about this production” (Guardian)! When BFFs Jack and Algy find themselves bedevilled with social engagements over a summer in the country, they each create an alter ego named ‘Ernest’ to dodge their commitments. But when they meet two ladies who are enamoured with the name, chaos, hilarity, and shenanigans ensue. National Treasure Stephen Fry leads the cast as Lady Bracknell, alongside Shobna Gulati, Hugh Dennis and It’s a Sin star Olly Alexander, in Max Webster’s colourful and campy take on Oscar Wilde’s witty classic.
4. Ballet Shoes: The beloved children's novel uplifts on stage
This “playful, graceful” (The Standard) re-imagining of Noel Streatfeild’s beloved children's novel is the perfect heartwarming treat for the colder months. In 1930s London, three adopted sisters - Pauline, Petrova and Posy - grow up in a ramshackle house filled with fossils and dinosaur bones. Under the guidance of their quirky guardians Nana and Sylvia - along with some eccentric and unlikely lodgers - the three girls seek to find who they are, and who they want to be, in a world that makes it tough for girls to dream big.
5. The Mousetrap: still gripping after 70 years
6. The Play That Goes Wrong: the West End’s funniest show
7. Witness for the Prosecution: Agatha Christie's courtroom drama
8. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: the magic remains alive
9. A Christmas Carol: The Heartwarming Classic Returns
The Old Vic’s flagship Christmas show returns for its 9th year, starring Olivier and Tony Award nominee Paul Hilton as Scrooge. Cold-hearted Ebenezer Scrooge is a tightfisted businessman who thinks Christmas is a “humbug”. But when Scrooge is visited by three ghosts in the night - the spirits of Christmas past, present and future - he must heed their lessons and change his ways, or end up a shackled spectre himself… Enjoy mince pies and mulled wine as you take in this heartwarming, emotional version of the Dickens classic.
