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August is unquestionably the quietest month of the London theatre calendar, with much of the industry either literally on holiday or decamped to the madness of the Edinburgh Fringe. There is, nonetheless, still plenty of theatre to see, from a clutch of feelgood summer musicals to the splendour of the free Greenwich + Docklands International Festival. Here are our picks for the month’s essential shows.
1. Greenwich + Docklands International Festival
You can’t spell ‘spectacle’ without GDIF: the festival of street theatre and spectacular installations is back in its traditional late-summer slot for 2024. There’s far too much on to neatly round up here, but August highlights include the thunderous, pyro-packed opening show ‘Silence!’ from international company Les Commando Percu (Aug 23) and ‘Thaw’ (Aug 24 and 25), an eight-hour performance on a single huge block of melting ice.
Various venues, Aug 23-Sep 8.
2. Fiddler on the Roof
Over his prodigious 18-year-stint as OAT artistic director, Tim Sheader has made the ‘big summer musical’ his trademark at the once Shakespeare-focussed theatre. His final piece of programming (he’s now moved to the Donmar) is this revival of Stein & Bock’s all-time classic about Jewish village life in the Pale of Settlement, featuring such classics as ‘If I Was a Rich Man’ and ‘Tradition’. We don’t know a lot about the production, but expect a subtly revisionist spin.
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, until Sep 21. Buy tickets here.
3. The Years
For years, the great Dutch repertory company Internationaal Theater Amsterdam has been synonymous with super-director Ivo van Hove, who finally stepped down from its artistic directorship last year. The Almeida has scored quite the coup by getting in incredibly early with his replacement, Norwegian director Eline Arbo, who debuts at the Islington theatre this summer with the English language version of her acclaimed ‘The Years’, an adaption of Annie Ernaux’s epic memoir about life as a Frenchwoman in the postwar decades. The superb cast comprises Debora Findlay, Romola Garai, Gina McKee, Anjli Mohindra and Harmony Rose-Bremner.
Almeida Theatre, until Aug 31.
4. Antony and Cleopatra
The perhaps unexpected brouhaha about an able-bodied actor playing Richard III at the Globe this summer has overshadowed the fact that the Bankside theatre is staging a somewhat-groundbreaking production of ‘Antony & Cleopatra’ in bilingual English and BSL, with deaf Globe regular Nadia Nadarajah playing the Egyptian queen in Blanche McIntyre’s captioned production.
Shakespeare’s Globe, Aug 4-Sep 15. Buy tickets here.
5. A Chorus Line
A summer transfer to Sadler’s for the Leicester Curve Theatre’s well-received revival of the groundbreaking 1975 meta-musical that follows a group of 17 performers auditioning for… a musical. With a smattering of classic songs, a whole load of New York sass, and a veritable forest of leotards, it’s a guaranteed good time.
Sadler’s Wells, until Aug 25. Buy tickets here.
6. Shifters
Benedict Lombé’s high concept romance will be only the third play by a Black British woman to run in the West End, and does so off the back of excellent reviews for its run at the Bush Theatre earlier this year. It’s also done no harm that co-star Tosin Cole is playing the lead in Netflix’s Black London superheroes hit ‘Supacell’.
Duke of York’s Theatre, Aug 12-Oct 12. Buy tickets here.
7. Frankie Goes to Bollywood
You can trust the Southbank Centre to come up with a bright and breezy summer show: this year it’s ‘Frankie Goes to Bollywood’ by Pravesh Kumar and his British Asian company Rifco, a musical based on true stories of Brit who’ve found themselves unexpectedly caught up in the Bollywood film industry.
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Until Aug 18. Buy tickets here.
8. G
Under new boss David Byrne, the Royal Court’s teensy Upstairs theatre has had a fascinatingly mercurial inaugural season. Following the period folk horror of last play ‘The Bounds’, Tife Kusoro’s ‘G’ sounds like a swerve into more urban, modern scares, as three classmates contemplate sinister folk figure Baitface the Gulleyman.
Royal Court, Aug 22-Sep 21. Buy tickets here.
9. When It Happens to You
Actor Amanda Abbingdon has been in the news recently for unfortunate ‘Strictly’-releated reasons, but hopefully she can put that behind her with this US drama that author Tawni O’Dell wrote about her daughter’s rape. The original off-Broadway production received mixed reviews in large part thanks to O’Dell’s decision to play herself, but with actual professional actor Abbingdon front and centre this should be a big step up.
Park Theatre, until Aug 31. Buy tickets here.
10. Camden Fringe
Serious comparisons to the Edinburgh Fringe don’t really make a huge amount of sense if you think about it for more than about five seconds, but the Camden Fringe is a loveable fixture in the summer calendar that never fails to enliven the August doldrums. The plays tend to be scrappy; some of the work-in-progress comedy is a lot slicker; all-in-all it’s a mixed bag quality-wise but you can’t argue with the prices and it’s a charming thing to dip your toe into.
Various venues, until Aug 25.
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