20 Exciting New Shows in London in 2026

Fresh from storming Oz, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony-winning superstar Cynthia Erivo makes a triumphant return to the West End, playing all roles in a one-woman adaptation of Dracula. Unassuming solicitor Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to assist the mysterious Count Dracula in the sale of his estate, believing it to be just another job. But when he arrives, inexplicable occurrences soon abound... Bram Stoker’s classic gothic novel is adapted and directed by Kip Williams, director of recent Olivier-winning solo show The Picture of Dorian Gray, which starred Sarah Snook. Erivo, back on stage, playing all roles? Bloody brilliant!

Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville reprises his role as C.S. Lewis in Shadowlands, transferring to London following a sell-out, critically acclaimed run at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2019. Based on a true story, the play tells the story of the unexpected, beautiful and ultimately tragic romance between Narnia author Lewis and his wife Joy Davidman. This production promises to be one of the most moving of 2026 - book now, and get your tissues at the ready

This powerful play about grief, love and police violence is a lyrical “verbal feast” (Chicago Tribune), mashing up heightened Shakespeare-inspired verse with hip hop rhythms in a piece that’s part magic realism, part brutal political examination, all dazzling. Written by the late Chadwick Boseman, best known for his acting work in Black Panther and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, the UK premiere of this breathtaking play comes to the Globe in 2026 for a strictly limited run.

While it might “suck to be you”, it’ll suck just a little bit less this Spring as Avenue Q returns to the West End for the first time in over two decades. This hilarious, irreverent musical about a borough of New York populated by disaffected puppets and humans, who must muddle through life is “Sesame Street for grown-ups” (EW). Featuring hit songs including “It Sucks to be Me”, “The Internet is For P*rn” and “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist”, this equal opportunity offender is sidesplitting, silly and surprisingly heartfelt.

One of the biggest West End transfers in 2026 is Inter Alia, starring Gone Girl star Rosamund Pike, a blistering drama from the award-winning team behind internationally acclaimed sell-out hit Prima Facie. Fresh from an acclaimed 2025 run at the National, which marked Pike’s first stage performance in over 15 years, Pike reprises the role of Jessica Parks, a crown court judge renowned for her feminist views and harsh sentencing. But when Jessica’s own family are rocked by a shocking turn of events, she is forced to reassess just what she stands for - justice, or her own family?

Stranger Things star Sadie Sink makes her West End debut this spring in Romeo and Juliet, a new revival by Olivier-winning, boundary-pushing writer-director Robert Icke. Sink is joined by Hamnet’s Noah Jupe also in his London Theatre debut, as the star-crossed lovers from rival families who unexpectedly fall for one another. This explosive new production of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy promises to be the hottest play of the season - secure your tickets today.

Following an acclaimed performance as Sally Bowles in Cabaret, Self Esteem, aka Rebecca Lucy Taylor, returns to the West End in 2026, in a huge revival of David Hare’s rock’n’roll play Teeth ’N’ Smiles. Taylor plays Maggie (a role originated by Helen Mirren), a chaotic rock star struggling to keep a grip on both her band and reality as they perform at an increasingly disastrous University Ball for a Cambridge college in the 70s. The production also features updated songs by Ivor Novello and Attitude Award winner and Mercury, NME and Brit nominee Taylor.

This uplifting new musical from the RSC promises to be one of the biggest shows in 2026, slated for a London transfer before the production has even premiered in Stratford-upon-Avon! Produced by Chiwetel Ejiofor and based on a remarkable true story, the musical follows 13-year-old William as he fights to save his village in Malawi from a devastating drought, utilising the power of his imagination and the wind to create a windmill. Can he dispel his friends and family's doubts and bring hope back to his village?

Grace Pervades is another big West End transfer for 2026, coming to the Theatre Royal Haymarket following acclaimed performances in Bath in 2025, starring Tony winner Ralph Fiennes (Conclave) and Miranda Raison (Silk). This brand new play from legendary playwright, Tony, BAFTA and Olivier winner, and Academy Award nominee David Hare is inspired by the true story of Victorian superstar actors Henry Irving and Ellen Terry, and charts their relationship from a reluctant mentorship to society-shaking romance. This was a sell-out in Bath, so don’t miss your chance to catch this limited run.

This bitingly witty play about female friendship and #MeToo is one of the most exciting pieces of new writing coming to London in 2026. The play makes its UK debut at the Royal Court, having recently been a smash on Broadway in a seperate production starring Sadie Sink (also making her London stage debut elsewhere in Romeo and Juliet this year). It’s 2018, and a high school English honours class in rural America are studying The Crucible. But as the class grapple with their own issues, the play stirs up complex questions about agency, toxic masculinity, and who truly gets to be the hero in the stories we tell.

It’s time to get steamy, as a major revival of the Tony-nominated play, all about romance, rivalry and revenge in 18th-century French high society, comes to London for a strictly limited run. This production marks the first staging of the play in London for over a decade, and stars Academy Award nominee and Olivier winner Lesley Manville (The Phantom Thread, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris) and Aidan Turner (Poldark, Rivals) as quarrelling ex-lovers turned enemies. Let yourself be seduced, and say Je t'aime to Les Liaisons Dangereuses this summer.

2026 seems to be the year of star-studded solo shows, as Gary Oldman brings his one-man revival of Samuel Beckett’s surrealist masterwork to London, following a sell-out run in York in 2025. Oldman does it all in this production - directing, set designing and performing in the play, which tells the story of a man on his 69th birthday, grappling with regrets as he listens to recordings of his past self. Don't miss this rare chance to see the Slow Horses star and Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe winner live on stage.

2026 is a huge year for emerging playwright Ava Pickett, who has three productions running this year, including this West End transfer, featuring the original cast, including Sex Education’s Tanya Reynolds, reprising their roles from the show's sold-out Almeida run. In a field in Essex, three women gather to discuss friendship, survival, and the downfall of the recently executed queen, Anne Boleyn, as the impact of Boleyn’s execution sends ripples through the country. This innovative play merges modern language with an unflinching portrait of power and patriarchy - don’t miss it.

It’s showtime, London! This hilarious, Tony-nominated adaptation of the Tim Burton film has had rumours of a London transfer swirling since it premiered on Broadway in 2019, and now the West End can say his name at last. Lydia Deetz is grieving her mum and feels ignored by her dad, so she enlists mild-mannered ghosts, The Maitlands, to haunt him into caring again. But the couple are new to the whole "being dead thing", and when they fail to spook Lydia's dad, unhinged demon Beetlejuice steps in, and chaos ensues…

One of the biggest musicals opening in 2026 is this revival of rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar. This production brings the acclaimed 2017 open-air staging of the show indoors and onto one of the biggest stages in London, starring Eurovision phenomenon, Brit Award and Emmy nominated singer-songwriter Sam Ryder, best known for his song “Space Man”, in the lead role, making his West End debut. Featuring all your favourite tunes, including “I Don't Know How To Love Him”, “Gethsemane”, and “Superstar”, this production promises to be heavenly!

Another exciting piece of new writing for 2026 is Archduke, which makes its UK debut this summer. This new play from Pulitzer finalist Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) reimagines the run-up to Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination - the event that is believed to have triggered WWI. The play reframes the real-life perpetrator Gavrilo Princip, a young man dying of tuberculosis, as not a cunning mastermind but as a sick, naive boy - susceptible to propaganda - who is desperate to leave his mark on history, however he can…  

This huge revival of Rostand’s romantic play is another big RSC transfer for 2026. Olivier winner Adrian Lester reprises his role as the large-nosed wordsmith in a “standout” (Guardian) performance, as this production comes to the West End following a smash-hit Stratford season in 2025. Ashamed of his unusual looks, Cyrano must help his love rival woo the woman he loves - but what will happen if Roxane learns the truth about her suitor? This production blends the original verse with modern language and “crackles with an electricity” (Broadway Baby).

This brand new musical from a Tony and Olivier Award-winning creative team tells the remarkable true story of Frank Sinatra. Charting Sinatra’s journey, from humble beginnings as the son of Italian American immigrants, to the dizzying heights of fame, to making a comeback following a career-shattering affair, Sinatra features all your favourite tunes by Old Blue Eyes, including “That’s Life”, “One For My Baby”, and “The Best Is Yet To Come”. Secure your tickets today!

There are plenty of huge stars on stage this new year. Amongst them is Hollywood superstar, Wonder Woman and Star Trek star and Emmy-nominee Chris Pine, who makes his London theatre debut in this darkly comic reimaging of Anton Chekov’s tragi-comedy, adapted by award-winning writer-director Simon Stone. Pine plays the titular role of the down-on-his-luck Nikolai Ivanov, who must try to reassemble the shattered pieces of his life, marriage and career after an explosive act of infidelity.

Man to Man promises to be the theatrical event of the Autumn in 2026, as Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton returns to a role she first originated over three decades ago. This powerful one-woman show follows Ella/Max - a widow in 1930s Germany who adopts her late husband’s identity as a desperate act of survival. Rejoining Swinton are the original, award-winning creative team for the production, including acclaimed designer Bunny Christie and director Stephen Unwin. Don’t miss this “murky, dream-like and fractured monologue” (Time Out).