20 Exciting New Shows in London in 2026

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.

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!

Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe winner Aaron Sorkin’s (The Social Network, The West Wing) blistering adaptation of Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel returns to London in this landmark revival. When a Black man is accused of assaulting a white woman in a small town in 1930s Alabama, lawyer Atticus Finch must uncover the truth of what truly happened in an explosive, career defining trial. This Tony-winning and Olivier-nominated adaptation embarks on a UK tour before flying back into the West End for a strictly limited run.

Green Wing’sSteven Mangan, Father Ted’s Ardal O’Hanlon, Miranda’s Sarah Hadland and Olivier winner Janie Dee star in this new revival of Academy Award-winning French dramatist Florian Zeller’s hilarious, experimental play. Two married couples are intertwined in an affair - or are they? As truth and lies become exposed, each character's perspective is presented in this innovative comedy-drama. Will the foursome ever discover what the real truth is? Translated by Tony winner Christopher Hampton (Sunset Boulevard), The Truth comes to London for a strictly limited run.

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!

Choose life, choose tickets to Trainspotting the Musical this summer. You may be familiar with the 1996 film, starring Ewan McGregor, but this is Trainspotting as you've never seen it before - a blistering new musical that follows a gang of disaffected friends in Edinburgh as they grapple with love, sex, relationships and addiction. Adapted from the hit novel and film that defined a generation, this brand new musical features a script from the novel’s author Irving Welsh and songs co-written by Welsh and dance legend Steve Mac, alongside favourite tunes from the film.

Emmy nominee, Golden Globe winner and Killing Eve star Sandra Oh makes her National Theatre debut in The Misanthrope, a brand new adaptation of Moliere’s satirical comedy. Martin Crimp's script reimagines the play for the 21st century, transforming the curmudgeonly protagonist from Alceste to Alice - a novelist who speaks her mind and rejects a society she sees as vapid and hypocritical. This is a fiercely feminist and freshly witty take on a classic - secure your tickets today!

The Award-winning Mischief Theatre are back with another side-splitting comedy play - this time all about, you guessed it, spies! Set in 1960s London, this riotous Cold War farce features all your favourite spy tropes and is jam-packed with espionage, top secret weapons, stolen plans, mistaken identity and clashing agents from the CIA and the KGB. Your mission, should you choose to accept it - book tickets for this hilarious show from the team behind The Play That Goes Wrong today!

This thrilling musical, adapted from the cult classic manga, makes its full UK premiere following two sell-out concert stagings in 2023. When high school student Light stumbles across an otherworldly notebook, that kills anyone whose name is written in its pages, he decides to use the power for good, ridding the world of evildoers. But the lines between hero and villain soon blur, and when Light meets L, an oddball detective determined to track down the killer and bring him to justice, a tense game of cat and mouse ensues.

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).

BAFTA and Olivier winner and Academy Award nominee Kristen Scott Thomas leads the cast as Ranevskaya in this brand new adaptation of The Cherry Orchard from Tony and Olivier nominee Conor McPherson (Girl from the North Country). A family of Russian aristocrats must contend with interpersonal drama while they sell their beloved family estate, and its cherry orchard, to pay off debts, in this huge revival of Chekhov’s classic drama. Secure your tickets today.

Set during the miners’ strikes in the 1980s, a young lad from a North East mining town goes against the masculine ideals to pursue his dreams of becoming a ballet dancer in this Tony and Olivier-winning musical. Adapted by writer Lee Hall (The Pitman Painters) and director Stephen Daldry (The Crown) from their critically acclaimed film, the uplifting musical features a score by Elton John with songs including “Electricity” and “Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher.” So go on, Billy! Book 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.