London events in March 2025

Surely the most successful British playwright of our time, unstoppable hit machine James Graham scored a hit in his near hometown of Nottingham early in 2024 with ‘Punch’, a shocking true tale of violence and redemption. It concerns Jacob Dunne, a young man from Nottingham who got into a senseless confrontation with trainee paramedic James Hodgkinson and unwittingly killed him with a single punch. He was subsequently forgiven by te victim’s parents, who made an effort to help him turn his life around. Technically an addition to Kwame Kwei-Armah’s tenure at the Young Vic rather than the debut of the new regime, the Adam Penford-directed production transfers to London with its original lead cast of Julie Hesmondhalgh, Tony Hirst and David Shields returning.

Spring in London is always a knockout. We might live in a sprawling capital city, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t tons of amazing green spaces to enjoy the season’s pops of colour. From London's bright pink cherry blossoms to seas of daffodils, take a look at our list of the best places to see flowers in London.

If it’s still a little early to get a clear handle on David Byrne’s programming at the Royal Court – because new plays take years from commissioning to programing – then he’s certainly brought in a few big names you doubt would have found a berth under his predecessor Vicky Featherstone. If the headline grabber in his first year was Nicholas Hytner directing the excellent Giant, then the biggie from year two is clearly Robert Icke. The acclaimed writer-director’s Court debut sees him pen an original piece for the first time. Manhunt is a drama based upon the life and death of Raoul Moat, the Newcastle man who went on the run after murdering his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend in 2010, culminating in a manhunt with morbid and unexpected consequences.

Mums deserve high praise all year round, but Mothering Sunday is the ultimate excuse to treat your darling ma and any other matriarchs in your life to a lovely time. Here’s our guide to help you get organised and plan a proper celebration of mumsy on Sunday March 10, whether you want to take her for a cheeky Mumtini, treat her to a relaxing trip to one of London’s exquisite spas, or send her a stunning bunch of flowers. 

Promising ‘cutting-edge technology with rich historical narratives’, this Ancient Egypt-themed show is the latest experience to arrive at the ImmerseLDN, the ExCeL’s sprawling, 26,909 sq ft space for staging all things ‘immersive’. Tutankhamun: The Immersive Exhibition has apparently been viewed by 1.8 million visitors on a global tour, and arrives in London for 14 weeks this spring. Using splashy technology and 8-metre-tall projections, the exhibit will be divided into six galleries, each bringing the maximum amount of razzle dazzle to bear on the time of the Pharaohs. You’ll be able to experience such thrills as an immersive movie about the discovery of the tomb, a VR experience taking you ‘into the Egyptian afterlife’ and an AR walk through the Valley of Kings. Gimmicky it might sound, but it’s been endorsed by both the History Channel and the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo, so we’d imagine it will at the very least nail the historical accuracy. Got a kid that’s going through an Ancient Egypt phase? They’ll probably love it. 

Up-and-coming playwright Ryan Calais Cameron laboured for aeons on his breakout play For Black Boys Who Feel Suicidal When the Hue Gets Too Heavy, but it paid off in spades: after premiering at the tiny New Diorama and graduating to the prestigious Royal Court, it was a smash hit on the West End. Now he has a second West End transfer on his hands with Retrograde, a snappy three-hander period drama about trailblazing Black Hollywood actor Sidney Poitier on the cusp of signing his first major studio contract. The play is essentially based upon a true incident, wherein Poitier – who was friends with a lot of prominent Black civil rights figures – was asked to sign a pledge of loyalty and denounce the prominent Black activist Paul Robeson, a man he admired intensely, ahead of the making of the 1956 TV film A Man is Ten Feet Tall. Cameron revels in flexing his writing muscles in a totally different direction. The dialogue has a perfectly pitched, screwballish Mad Men snap. It may well end up being a stonking hit, and effortlessly seal Cameron’s reputation as a major talent. 

Now onto its fifty-ninth year of hurt, the capacity of the English men’s football team to be the focal point of ruinous national self-mythologization is well documented. As such, a play about the squad’s resurrection under recently departed manager Gareth Southgate felt like a potentially hubristic idea – dangerously overhyping a gifted man who never managed to take home any actual silverware. But having written classic work on such esoteric subjects as Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and the Labour whips office during the 1970s, it’s no surprise that James Graham hit the back of the net with the Olivier-winning Dear England. The play essentially works because Graham and Southgate are interested in the same thing: why is the England men’s team burdened with such high expectations? And what do those expectations do to the psychology of both the team and the nation? Importantly, it’s also an extremely fun show, and essentially up for a laugh, celebrating the foibles of our national sport rather than getting self-important about them. Don’t miss it when it returns to the National Theatre’s Olivier Theatre after a stint on the West End.

From Pamela Anderson’s Ferrari red bathing suit on Baywatch to 1980s Speedos, the world of swimwear has given us some eye-catching moments over the years. The Design Museum’s exhibition Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style explores the evolution of bathing suits and how the garments have reflected our approach to swimming. Beginning in the 1920s, which swimwear began to be marketed for swimming rather than the Victorian’s preference for bathing, the exhibition will chart how what we wear on beach holidays and in the pool has evolved and the changing role of swimming in modern life including how it’s shaped our ideas of the body, autonomy, agency and environment. Look out for the Olympic medal given to Lucy Morton, the first British woman to win a solo Olympic title in swimming in 1924, one of the earliest surviving examples of a bikini, the hugely controversial LZR Racer swimsuit and displays examining merfolk, sea people, water spirits and nymphs. 

Step into the world of 'The Habits', an exciting new play at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, where reality and fantasy collide. Follow Jess, Maryn, and Milo, three friends balancing the pressures of everyday life, as they gather for their weekly board game night to defeat the Nightmare King. But when their imaginary world starts seeping into their real lives, things take an unexpected turn. Written by Jack Bradfield, the visionary behind Poltergeist Theatre, and directed by Ed Madden, this funny, gripping, and heartfelt production is not to be missed.

Book now and enjoy tickets for just £10, down from £25, only through Time Out Offers

Take a trip to the Tuscan city of Siena and its discipline-changing art scene in the 14th century. Artists like Duccio, Simone Martini, Ambrogio Lorenzetti and the Pietro brothers brought previously unseen levels of drama, emotion and movement to their work, creating fresh strokes that bore huge impact not just in their local art circles but around the world. Around 700 years later, the National Gallery is capturing the energy that fuelled the crew, displaying some of their finest and most significant works.

Head to St Nicholas Church, tucked down a quiet sidestreet in Deptford, and you’ll see a pair of huge stone skulls above crossed bones on its gateposts. It’s thought that these ghoulish sculptures were the inspiration behind the famous Jolly Roger skull-and-cross-bones pirate flag. So, it’s fitting that just up the road in Greenwich, the National Maritime Museum is putting on a huge exhibition unearthing the truth behind the infamous swashbuckling sailors. Pirates will trace the changing depictions of pirates through the ages and reveal what the brutal reality of pirate life was like behind the mythologised fictionalised accounts we’ve all grown up with.

Explore piracy in popular culture – from comical characters like Captain Pugwash and Captain Hook to anti-heroes like Long John Silver and Captain Jack Sparrow, the global history of piracy and issues of modern piracy facing seafarers today. You’re in for a buccaneering time, me’hearties. 

For 23 editions, Kinoteka has been highlighting the creativity and magic of Polish cinema in London, taking over some of the most-respected cinema locations with offerings from the country. This year will be no different so get down to the likes of BFI Southbank, the ICA and more to discover some new cinematic treasures. The opening gala on March 6 will spotlight Damian Kocur’s ‘Under The Volcano’, which looks at the impact of war on a Ukrainian family’s lives as they holiday in Tenerife. Things will wrap up on April 26 with the closing gala, centred around Wojciech Has’ 1973 movie ‘The Hourglass Sanatorium’, while a retrospective of Has’ work will see his entire filmography screened across the festival.

Multifarious and ubiquitous, textiles are the global artform – every culture uses them, and since ancient times humans have used them to tell stories, express their individuality and celebrate our relationship with the natural world. Textiles: The Art of Mankind brings together a collection of colourful, beautiful and often unexpected objects – some of which have never been shown in the UK before – which show how we’ve used our ‘second skin’ throughout the centuries. Look out for an Egyptian wedding dress, ceremonial outfits from Japan, China, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Nigeria and India, hand-painted Chinese silk tapestry scrolls, an embroidered panel celebrating the lesbian and gay support of the 1980s miners’ strike and Aboriginal work. 

Serving up an eclectic mix of live music, visual arts, spoken word, podcasts and club nights, Roundhouse Three Sixty is a brand-new springtime festival at Chalk Farm’s famous circular arts venue. Aiming to ‘amplify the voices of today’s most vital and unapologetic artists’, its line-up features both globally recognised talents and up-and-coming creators nurtured by the Roundhouse. Highlights include a celebration of Donna Summer featuring performances from MNEK, Katy B and Le Gateau Chocolat, the debut performance from Daniel Kaluuya’s young persons’ performing arts company and a headline show from Corinne Bailey Rae. 

José María Velasco is making big moves, even over 100 years since his death. The beloved Mexican artist is getting his first UK exhibition this year, in what is also the first display dedicated to a historical Latin-American artist at the National Gallery. In it, you’ll find Velasco’s sweeping portrayals of the Valley of Mexico and detailed panoramic views that bottle a moment in time for a country then moving towards industrialisation, while capturing the natural beauty that surrounded him in exquisite detail.