What theatre productions are you looking forward to booking for 2026?

[FatCatSkinnyRat]

My DH and I have started going to the theatre Saturday matinees more regularly now our kids are older teens and we can leave them home alone on Saturday afternoons!!

We have booked Dracula so far as Australian friends have raved about it but wondering what else is coming out that people are excited about?

Great I have tickets!

Looking forward to it

I don’t regret seeing it - I enjoyed the interplay between the two leads and those aspects of the script were entertaining. It was a packed house and there were a lot of laughs and clearly many enjoyed it which is why I thought I was being picky.

I was just expecting something closer to the Crimp script of a few years back and a less annoying production- it was just “too much”. I wouldn’t go a second time and there are definitely better value shows available.

Dreadful would be harsh for the night I saw it but I definitely wouldn’t rate it above three stars. Its a shame that the leads (who I liked) were not give a better production.

I remember hating a previous production of The Misanthrope (Kiera knightly, Damian Lewis) so didn’t book for the national. Sounds rough.

Saw Truth at the Apollo last night, really enjoyed it. If you need cheering up or to forget what’s going on in the world, I’d definitely recommend.

Stephen Mangan, Janie Dee, Sarah Hadland and Ardal O’Hanlan were all terrific, especially Mangan and Dee.

its a short play,85 mins with no interval, so seemed a bit expensive but I’d go again

@Defiantly41 thanks for that! I love Florian Zeller and i have seen most of his plays!!! Will definitely go! And it is a bonus if it is a cheerful one!
For info: his best play was “the father” about alzheimer. Absolutely amazing.

Went to Jesus Christ Superstar last night. Superb performance, it's the same production as toured in 2024 which I had seen so no surprises but the cast were excellent, Jesse Tyler Ferguson was a fabulous Herod. Views (had to lean forward a lot as much happens at the front of the stage) and legroom were restricted in the grand circle but it was still a great night out.

Off to see The Misanthrope at The National on Wednesday. Expecting the theatre to be empty because of the football!

Went to see Cyrano a couple of days ago. Loved it! Fun and busy. Great acting!

Saw The Oresteia on Friday at the Bridge. Wasn’t as bad as I feared from early reports. A lot of terrific performances. But omg it’s so long at 3.5 hours and it was hot in there.

Weird with all the actors behind glass (Perspex i suppose) in the house set for a live show. But soon forgot the set and was drawn in (until it got ridiculous and lost me).

Seeing Glengarry Glen Ross on Sat.. reviews have not been great

Hello, I'm just delurking to say that I really enjoyed Glengarry Glen Ross. I thought Indira Varma was a little underused, but there were some terrific performances and the concept and staging were interesting. I understand the points made by the critics but I found it engaging and am glad I saw it.

The cast of Glengarry Glen Ross doesn’t appeal to me at all. But I loved the film.

@jay55 Thsnks for your thoughts on The Oresteia. I’ve been a fan of Mary-Louise Parker for decades, so I’m going to try and see it as I’ve never seen her before in a play.

Good to hear!

Looking forward to it now

I saw this last week - Indira Varma was one of the reasons I went to see it. I agree Varma felt under used but more than that it felt like a bit of a missed opportunity with the female cast.

That said, like you - i get the critics’ points but I still enjoyed it and don’t regret going. Its a good play and their timing was great.

We are booked to see Trainspotting.

The Misanthrope was utterly dreadful. Sandra Oh wasn't in it as she was "indisposed" - but they were filming our production for the National Theatre Live, so wondering if it was a rights/contract issue.

Or she just wanted to save her reputation because it stank. There was no interval - which did not stop a sizeable proportion of the audience leaving halfway through anyway.

The plot meandered all over the place. I have no idea what - if anything - it was pillorying and it managed to be simultaneously banal and pretentious, which is quite the feat.

Also the whole thing rhymed. Yes, yes a nod to Molliere, but honestly, far more Dr Seuss. Avoid.

Hamilton with Leslie Odom Jr lived up every bit to the hype. He's a class act and he raised the whole performance (I was worried he'd stand out but everyone was brilliant). I am envious of anyone going to see that - I've love to go again!

Does anyone have a positive response to The Misanthrope with Sandra Oh at the National? Seeing it soon …

My local arts centre is showing this soon, and I must admit that the poor reviews have put me right off. I still have time to get a ticket though, so I am interested in any positive responses as well.

I saw it during the preview run, before the reviews came out and did not regret going.

I posted upthread but in summary I really enjoyed Sandra Oh and Paul Chahidi - the timing and interplay between them was good.

However the updates to the script were often nonsensical in quite irritating ways. I suspect that wouldn’t bother everyone. My main beef with the production itself was that several times there were multiple conversations going on with none of them clearly audible, even though they contributed to the plot.

A lot of the reviews were three stars - I felt that was fair. I won’t go to see it again but it was a packed house when I saw it and no leavers during the performance that I noticed. The audience generally seemed to enjoy it but not the rapturous response I’d seen for other performances there. If Sandra Oh’s understudy did not have good timing with Paul Chahidi I think it would take a lot from the best part of the performance.

If you were someone for whom a trip to the NT was a rare and saved for event its probably not the best option for the money. If you are a regular I’d still give it a try and hope to get the advertised leads.

Not sure if this helps or not!

I feel sorry for people who turned up yesterday expecting to see Sandra Oh (who, let’s face it, is why this production has sold a lot of seats) paying up to £120 for a ticket. The NT don’t give refunds.

Thanks for replying, both. I am a frequent theatre goer and generally love the NT but they do turn up the odd dud. Hope that Sandra Oh is back as she is the main reason I booked tickets.

We went to Warhorse last night at the Olivier
DH refused to see it first time as he hates animal cruelty, but I talked him into it this time. Bloody hell!! The puppetry was out of this world and I sobbed through quite a lot of it as did DD. I can see why i had run and run and to see it in it’s original home at that scale was just fabulous

DD going to the Misanthrope next week, I passed on it but have just booked The Lives of Others despite not really liking Keira Knightly, for DH’s bday present

We also saw Warhorse a couple of weeks back, with bargainous Friday Rush £10 seats in the stalls. Fantastic performance, so much going on and attention to detail.