Written by Giada
Given the immense success and reach of my previous post, it’s only fair that I’m back for part two. With the usual promise of delivering extraordinary and unmissable shows, here’s what the new season in the West End will look like – at least for me.
TRANSFERS
2026 will be another year of great transfers, and I couldn’t be more grateful, as I have slept on them till now.
Ava Pickett’s play 1536 (winner of the 2024 Blackburn prize), featured in the “top theatre of 2025” by all of our big rivalries platforms, is transferring after a sold-out run at the Almeida to the Ambassador Theatre. This countryside drama about female friendship, unfolding against the backdrop of Henry VII and Anne Boleyn’s royal scandal, will accompany us into the steamy summer of our urban lives.
“You never change a winning (legal) team” sums up pretty much why writer Suzie Miller, director Justin Martin, and actor Rosamund Pike are back together after the success of Prima Facie with what feels like a bonus season. Inter Alia is ready to sail across the National Theatre’s bank and take the West End by storm.
Following on, coming quite literally from overseas, Oh, Mary! has opened to raving reviews at the Trafalgar Theatre after a successful Tony-Award campaign that earned Sam Pinkleton “best direction of a play” and Cole Escola “best leading actor” for the role of Mary Tod Lincoln. Because this play portrays the sad and forgotten life of the ‘woman behind the great man’, the comedy hits even harder.
NEW DIRECTIONS
West End means experimenting only if you already have a name for yourself. Which sucks, but that’s the rules of the game. Here are three shows that I am excited about, despite – or in virtue – of that premise.
West End means experimenting only if you already have a name for yourself. Which sucks, but that’s the rules of the game. Here are three shows that I am excited about, despite – or in virtue – of that premise.
Romeo and Juliet opens at The Harold Pinter Theatre, starring Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) and Noah Jupe (A Quiet Place, Hamnet), and directed by Robert Icke. After a slight side-questing with Manhunt last year, Icke is back to work on the classics. And I’m so curious to see his take on the infamous Shakespearean play about cursed love.
Thanks to the visionary team behind the Oliver-Award-winning production of The Picture of Dorian Grey, the cine-theatre is back in the West End. For slightly over four months, spring will be tinted red-blood at the Noel Coward, as Cynthia Erivo will be playing all 23 roles of Dracula, in what promises to be the event of the year.
At the Duke of York, director Daniel Raggett brings back David Hare’s Teeth’n’Smiles after 50 years from its trailblazing debut at the Royal Court. This fierce celebration of Maggie Fisher, once the voice of the counterculture but now disillusioned and broke, will still speak to us? Given the atrocious socio-political situation we find ourselves living in, I bet it will.
MUSICALS
If I had a penny for every musical celebrating female voices, I’d be about to have two pennies. Which is not much, but still somehow remarkable.
If I had a penny for every musical celebrating female voices, I’d be about to have two pennies. Which is not much, but still somehow remarkable.
@SohoPlace turns into a musical powerhouse this next year.
First with the West-End transfer of Marie & Rosetta, starring Oliver-Award winner Beverley Knight as Rosetta Tharpe and Ntombizodwa Ndlovu as Marie Knight. Mississippi, 1946. Rosetta, who is changing the face of gospel with her guitar-playing style, will join sister Marie on a tour of the segregated southern states. This story of dreams, courage, and success will prepare us for even more tears. And good music.
First with the West-End transfer of Marie & Rosetta, starring Oliver-Award winner Beverley Knight as Rosetta Tharpe and Ntombizodwa Ndlovu as Marie Knight. Mississippi, 1946. Rosetta, who is changing the face of gospel with her guitar-playing style, will join sister Marie on a tour of the segregated southern states. This story of dreams, courage, and success will prepare us for even more tears. And good music.
The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, adapted from William Kamkwamba’s international best-selling memoir and Ejiofor’s film, is an RSC production that will open in Stratford-upon-Avon in February Directed by the one and only Lynette Linton, this is the moving story of the boy who saved a draught-stricken Malawi with the power of imagination and determination.
UNDERDOGS OF THE SEASON
As I’ve always had a visceral fascination for the idea of underdogs, I’m awarding this prize – Underdog of the Season – to Evening All Afternoon. I might be wrong, but I haven’t heard anyone talking about this power duo just yet: Oliver-Award-nominated Diyan Zora (I’m still dreaming about her touch on Roots) directs Anna Zielgler’s new play (I’m still dreaming about her beautifully complex The Wanderers) about a mother-in-law and stepdaughter rivalry – have you noticed how purposely I’ve used this word twice?
As I’ve always had a visceral fascination for the idea of underdogs, I’m awarding this prize – Underdog of the Season – to Evening All Afternoon. I might be wrong, but I haven’t heard anyone talking about this power duo just yet: Oliver-Award-nominated Diyan Zora (I’m still dreaming about her touch on Roots) directs Anna Zielgler’s new play (I’m still dreaming about her beautifully complex The Wanderers) about a mother-in-law and stepdaughter rivalry – have you noticed how purposely I’ve used this word twice?
Before I start rambling (or trembling) about it, I beg my farewells. Honestly, I can’t wait to watch all of these shows… from the balconies.
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