London theatre reviews

Read our latest Time Out theatre reviews and find out what our London theatre team made of the city's new plays, musicals and theatre shows

Andrzej Lukowski
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Hello, and welcome to the Time Out theatre reviews round up.

From huge star vehicles and massive West End musical to hip fringe shows and more, this is a compliation of all the latest London reviews from the Time Out theatre team, which is me plus our team of freelance critics.

December is the busiest time of year for London theatre – expect plenty of pantomime reviews and other seasonal fun but also a slew of major openings from across London’s many venues as the industry works itself to a frenzy before shutting down for Christmas.

The best new London theatre shows to book for in 2026.

A-Z of West End shows.

  • Musicals
  • Waterloo
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

This musical version of Thelma & Louise has many things going for it, notably some thrilling songs from alt-country legend Neko Case, a great cast led by Amy Lennox and Rachel Turner, and some sparking dialogue from Callie Khouri, screenwriter of the classic 1991 Ridley Scott feminist road movie…

  • Drama
  • Islington
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

Almost a century on and I think we can be adult about the fact that 20th century American playwright Clifford Odets was never in the same league as the older Eugene O’Neill, or the younger Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller (who both clearly owed him a debt). Golden Boy, from 1937, is a fine play but clunkier than any of those writers at their best…

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  • Comedy
  • Regent’s Park
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

Comedies that are 400 years old and French don’t always age that well. Adding a comedy vicar with false teeth helps a bit, but doesn’t entirely save this Moliere remix…

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  • Musicals
  • Elephant & Castle

Heavyweight director John Caird - most famous for the original production of Les Mis - has been trying and in many ways succeeding in getting his musical version of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre off the ground for something like 30 years now.

  • Drama
  • Hammersmith
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

As the world around us has burned or flooded this summer, the environmental themes of Lucy Kirkwood’s pointedly allegorical drama The Children have only grown more relevant in the decade since it debuted – as Lyric Hammersmith artistic director Rachel O’Riordan’s anniversary revival production makes clear.

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  • Musicals
  • Swiss Cottage
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

Kimberly Akimbo has the sort of outlandish premise that makes you wonder if it’s going to be another entry in the annals of ‘mad things that only Americans are interested in’. But any  musical that wins five Tony awards and tempts the legendary Maria Friedman out of unofficial retirement is probably going to be alright, isn’t it? Well yes.

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  • Drama
  • Seven Dials
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

If it looks like a Chekhov play and it pines wistfully in the pre-revolution Russian countryside like a Chekhov play… that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a Chekhov play.

…

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