London 2017: Mainstream Theatre (Jan-June)

 
 
 
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The Glass Menagerie

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The Glass Menagerie
Imelda Staunton stars in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
David Tennant stars in Don Juan In Soho
Angels in America
Open Air Theatre
Sex With Strangers
 

© Johan Persson

Damian Lewis, Imelda Staunton and Griff Rhys Jones tread the boards in London's West End in 2017. Discover the hottest theatre tickets in town with our top picks on the main stage.

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The Glass Menagerie

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child director John Tiffany returns to the West End.

Duke of York's Theatre, St Martins Lane, London, WC2N 4BG

Tube: Leicester Square Station , Charing Cross Station, Covent Garden Station, Piccadilly Circus Station, Embankment Underground Station

 

Dates: 26th January - 29th April 2017

 

Director John Tiffany returns to the West End for the first time since the international critical hit Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to revive his critically acclaimed production of The Glass Menagerie. An A-list cast includes Tony Award-winner Cherry Jones who stars as the domineering former southern belle, who enlists the help of her son to find a husband for her emotionally fragile daughter. She appears with fellow Edinburgh International Festival cast members Michael Esper (Tom) and Kate O'Flynn (Laura) while Brian J. Smith reprises his Tony Award-nominated Broadway role as the Gentleman Caller.

 
 
 

The Girls

Gary Barlow and Tim Firth's new musical take on the Calendar Girls.

Phoenix Theatre, Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0JP

Tube: Tottenham Court Road Station , Leicester Square Station, Covent Garden Station

 

Dates: 28th January - 22nd April 2017

 

Based on the true story, film and award-winning play Calendar Girls, Gary Barlow and Tim Firth's new British musical, The Girls, opens at the Phoenix Theatre this January. Inspired by the story of a group of ladies who appeared nude for a Women's Institute calendar in order to raise funds to buy a settee for their local hospital, the musical comedy will show their life in the Yorkshire village, how it came about, the effect it had on their friends and family, and how a group of ordinary ladies achieved something extraordinary. Like the 2003 film, Tim Firth will direct with musical staging by Lizzi Gee and comedy staging by Jos Houben. The 'Girls' will be played by Debbie Chazen, Sophie-Louise Dann, Michele Dotrice, Claire Moore and Joanna Riding.

 
 
 

Sex With Strangers

Silent Witness actress Emilia Fox stars in the UK premiere of Laura Eason's smart comedy.

Hampstead Theatre, Eton Avenue, London, NW3 3EU

Tube: Swiss Cottage Station

 

Dates: 27th January - 04th March 2017

 

Emilia Fox stars in the UK premiere of Laura Eason's smart comedy Sex with Strangers, directed by Peter DuBois. The Silent Witness actress returns to Hampstead Theatre following the sell-out hit Rapture, Blister, Burn in 2014 to play Olivia, an attractive and talented but underappreciated mid-career writer. She is unexpectedly trapped overnight in a secluded, snowed-in B&B with Ethan, an equally attractive and wildly successful young blogger. What develops is a love story packed with hidden ambitions, desire and secret agendas.

 
 
 

Travesties

Patrick Marber directs Tom Hollander and the full company from the Menier.

Apollo Theatre, 29 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 7EZ

Tube: Piccadilly Circus Station , Leicester Square Station

 

Dates: 03rd February - 29th April 2017

 

This production of Travesties broke box office records at the Menier Chocolate Factory, becoming the first play in the company's history to sell out ahead of its first preview. Now, with previews from 3rd February 2017, the play transfers to the Apollo Theatre in the West End. Patrick Marber directs Tom Hollander and the full company from the Menier - including Freddie Fox, Peter McDonald, Forbes Masson and Clare Foster - in Tom Stoppard's comedy of art, love and revolution. Tom Hollander is "hilarious in this mind-bogglingly entertaining Stoppard revival"(Telegraph), starring as minor British diplomat Henry Carr, who is stationed in 1917 Zurich and misremembers James Joyce, Tristan Tzara and Lenin.

 
 
 

Twelfth Night

Tamsin Greig take on the classic male role of Malvolio.

National Theatre: Olivier Theatre, South Bank, London, SE1 8XZ

Tube: Embankment Underground Station

 

Dates: 15th February - 13th May 2017

 

Continuing his commitment to diversity, Rufus Norris, artistic director of the National Theatre, brings a very modern take on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night to the Olivier Theatre. Directed by Simon Goodwin, the production sees Tamsin Greig take on the classic male role of Malvolio, which will be reimagined as Malvolia. "That play is about lots of gender confusion anyway" states Norris, making it an appropriate twist. The narrative follows Viola, who is washed ashore on a remote island, and her lost twin brother, Sebastian. What follows is a whirlwind of mistaken identity and unrequited love, with Malvolia being swept up in the madness.

 
 
 
 

Hamlet

Sherlock star Andrew Scott appears opposite Juliet Stevenson at the Almeida.

Harold Pinter Theatre, 6 Panton Street, London, SW1Y 4DN

Tube: Piccadilly Circus Station , Leicester Square Station

 

Dates: 09th June - 02nd September 2017

 

After starring in Mary Stuart in late 2016, Juliet Stevenson returns to the Almeida stage this year to star in Hamlet, playing Gertrude. Sherlock and Spectre star Andrew Scott, who makes his Almeida debut in the title role, will take the title role. The star will be following in the footsteps of his on-screen nemesis Benedict Cumberbatch, who tackled Shakespeare's toughest role in 2015 in what became the fastest-selling play in London theatre history.

 
 
 

Edward Albee's Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

Imelda Staunton plays Martha in Albee's examination of the breakdown of a marriage.

Harold Pinter Theatre, 6 Panton Street, London, SW1Y 4DN

Tube: Piccadilly Circus Station , Leicester Square Station

 

Dates: 22nd February - 27th May 2017

 

Imelda Staunton returns to the West End after her triumphant and Olivier Award-winning performance as Mama Rose in Gypsy to star opposite Conleth Hill in a new production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Multi Tony and Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Edward Albee, who sadly passed away recently, penned the 1962 play examining the breakdown of the marriage of a middle-aged couple. Martha (played by Imelda Staunton), much to her husband George's displeasure, has invited new professor Nick and his wife Honey to their home for some after-party drinks, leading to a moment of devastating truth-telling.

 
 
 

Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead

Daniel Radcliffe stars in the 50th-anniversary production of Tom Stoppard's situation comedy.

Old Vic Theatre, 103 The Cut, London, SE1 8NB

Tube: Waterloo Station , Southwark Station, Lambeth North Station

 

Dates: 25th February - 29th April 2017

 

The play that made Tom Stoppard's name overnight, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead is staged at The Old Vic for the first time since its London debut in 1967. The 50th-anniversary celebratory production will be directed by David Leveaux and star Daniel Radcliffe and Joshua McGuire. Against the backdrop of Shakespeare's Hamlet, the mind-bending situation comedy sees two hapless minor characters take centre stage, becoming increasingly out of their depth. With the young double act stumbling their way in and out of action, Stoppard's play sees the audience witness the ultimate identity crisis.

 
 
 

The Miser

Griff Rhys Jones and Lee Mack star in Moliere's classic comedy.

Garrick Theatre, 2 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0HH

Tube: Leicester Square Station , Charing Cross Station, Covent Garden Station, Piccadilly Circus Station, Embankment Underground Station

 

Dates: 01st March - 03rd June 2017

 

Griff Rhys Jones takes the title role and comedian Lee Mack stars in a major revival of Moliere's classic comedy The Miser with Sean Foley directing the new adaptation. A biting satire about a wealthy and tyrannical father, The Miser attempts to set up a love match with a much younger woman. Unfortunately, she is already devoted to his son. Director Sean Foley has already given us the hugely successful production of Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense and with such well known names in the lead roles, this has all the ingredients to be a must-see piece of theatre. The play opens at Bath Theatre Royal and travels to Richmond Theatre before opening at the Garrick Theatre in the West End on Wednesday 1st March 2017.

 
 
 

Stepping Out

Trials and tribulations of seven women and one man who meet at a weekly tap class.

Vaudeville Theatre, 404 Strand, London, WC2R 0NH

Tube: Covent Garden Station , Charing Cross Station, Embankment Underground Station, Leicester Square Station

 

Dates: 01st March - 17th June 2017

 

Amanda Holden, Angela Griffin, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Tamzin Outhwaite and Nicola Stephenson star in Richard Harris' bittersweet comedy drama, Stepping Out, which choreographs the trials and tribulations of seven women and one man, who meet at a weekly tap dancing class in a north London church hall. Such an all-star cast make this award-winning comedy, directed by Maria Friedman at the Vaudeville Theatre, a toe tapping hot ticket.

 
 
 
 

Don Juan In Soho

David Tennant stars in Patrick Marber's contemporary take on Moliere's classic comedy.

Wyndham's Theatre, Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0DA

Tube: Leicester Square Station , Covent Garden Station, Charing Cross Station, Piccadilly Circus Station

 

Dates: 17th March - 10th June 2017

 

David Tennant returns to the West End this March to play the title role in Patrick Marber's Don Juan in Soho. Directed by Marber himself (who's keeping himself busy in 2017, also directing Travesties at the Apollo Theatre) the play will be staged at the Wyndham's Theatre for a strictly limited 11-week run. The contemporary take on Moliere's classic comedy, Don Juan, first premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in December 2006, directed by Michael Grandage and starring Rhys Ifans. Now, with this West End transfer, more audiences will be able to enjoy the "dark, funny and very sexy" (The Telegraph) production.

 
 
 

Edward Albee's The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia?

Damian Lewis and Sophie Okonedo star in Albee's play about a father who falls in love with a goat.

Theatre Royal Haymarket, 18 Suffolk Street, Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4HT

Tube: Piccadilly Circus Station , Leicester Square Station, Charing Cross Station

 

Dates: 24th March - 24th June 2017

 

Damian Lewis returns to the West End this March to star in Edward Albee's The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia? The Tony Award-winning play follows Martin, who is at the pinnacle of his life. He has a loving wife and son, a fantastic career as an architect, and the commission of a lifetime. Despite this, he embarks on a love affair from which there is no going back, with familial relationships collapsing as a result. Ian Rickson, former Royal Court artistic director, directs the late classic, which is full of Albee's characteristically sharp wit and will be staged at the Theatre Royal Haymarket for a limited period.

 
 
 

Angels in America

Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield spins a new web as HIV-positive New Yorker, Prior Walter.

National Theatre: Lyttelton Theatre, South Bank, London, SE1 9PX

Tube: Temple Station , Waterloo Station

 

Dates: From 11th April 2017

 

The National Theatre presents a new staging of Tony Kushner's multi-award winning two-part play, Angels in America, this April. The 1993 play won a Pulitzer, Tony and Drama Desk Award and was later adapted into a HBO miniseries. Now, Olivier and Tony Award-winning director Marianne Elliott (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and War Horse) directs the new production. Set in America in the mid-1980s, in the midst of the AIDS crisis, the genre-busting play, which is made up of two parts - Millennium Approaches and Perestroika - tells the story of a straight and a gay couple as they tackle addiction, diagnosis and desperate illness. Andrew Garfield takes the role of Prior Walter while other cast members include Denise Gough, Nathan Lane, James McArdle and Russell Tovey.

 
 
 

The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui

Lenny Henry appears in Bertolt Brecht's satire about a Chicago mobster's rise to power.

The Donmar Warehouse, 41 Earlham Street, Seven Dials, London, WC2H 9LD

Tube: Covent Garden Station , Leicester Square Station, Tottenham Court Road Station

 

Dates: 21st April - 17th June 2017

 

Lenny Henry makes his Donmar Warehouse debut this April in Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. Written by Brecht in 1941 in just three weeks, the play focuses on fictional Chicago mobster Arturo Ui (played by Henry) to create an allegory of Hitler's Nazi Germany. The play has been given a new translation by Pulitzer, Olivier and Tony Award-winning American playwright Bruce Norris.

 
 
 

The Ferryman

Jez 'Jerusalem' Butterworth and Sam Mendes collaborate on an emotionally wrought family drama.

Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8AS

Tube: Sloane Square Station

 

Dates: 24th April - 20th May 2017

 

Olivier Award-winning playwright Jez Butterworth, who will forever be remembered for Jerusalem, returns to the Royal Court with The Ferryman, an emotionally wrought family drama set in 1981 rural Derry. American Beauty's Sam Mendes directs the play, which beings as the Carney farmhouse in Northern Ireland prepares for the annual harvest. A day of hard work on the land and a traditional night of feasting and celebrations lie ahead. But this year they will be interrupted by a visitor. With such an impressive creative team, we advise booking before it sells out.

 
 
 

Open Air Theatre

The al fresco theatre opens with On the Town and presents two Dickens' classics.

Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park, Inner Circle, Regent's Park, Regent's Park, London, NW1 4NR

Tube: Regent's Park Station

 

Dates: 16th May - 19th September 2020

 

A mainstay of summer in London, the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre opens its doors for another season in 2017, opening with On the Town, directed by Olivier Award-winner Drew McOnie. We are then treated to two of Charles Dickens's most popular stories out in the open. Firstly, Matthew Dunster adapts Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities into a new play directed by Timothy Sheader. Secondly, Oliver Twist is created for everyone aged six and over, adapted by Anya Reiss and directed by Caroline Byrne. Jesus Christ Superstar, winner of the BBC Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical in the Evening Standard Awards, and a sell-out success in 2016, returns and runs until 16th September, giving audiences one final chance to see the production in its original home.

 
 
 

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