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?

I loved Warhorse, you just overlook the fact that those amazing puppet horses aren’t real, they are so convincing.

I know the thread has 2026 in the title, but have just booked ‘Just for one day’ for its extended run into 2027. Loved it in London, and now booked tickets for a regional theatre.

Also coming up in my Facebook feed is ‘Berlin, the musical’ , a new musical set around the Berlin Wall. The music has been released and is quite good. Don’t know when or where the show will come out.

I saw High Society this week and really enjoyed it. The whole cast were superb and the costumes were amazing. It was pure escapism.

Did not enjoy GGGR!

Did not enjoy what?

Oh no!

I'm assuming Glengarry Glen Ross ...

I saw War Horse on tour about 10 years ago, it was amazing and had me in tears.

Glengarry Glen Ross

Abigail’s Party in Richmond this weekend- pre West End, will be interesting to see this new interpretation, will report back!

I saw the new Abigail’s Party recently, having seen the 2012 version. This new one is much better imho.

I am not a huge Tamzin Outhwaite fan but she was SUPERB as Bev. The staging is fresh and it was great fun. Thoroughly recommend.

Oh great thanks for the recommendation! I will book that as live not far from Richmond and adore Abigail's party, I've never seen it on stage!

I am going to this next week
Am I Losing My Mind Or Just My Figure? | Riverside Studios

I LOVE the Bitesize festival, lots of pre Edinburgh runs and it's really cheap, I've seen some great things there. This has been nominated for an Offie award and should be good I think

I am also going to go to this on Monday, I've seen other stuff by the writer which has been fab

GUTTED | Riverside Studios

We are booked for The Story at the National in October, also going to Edinburgh Fringe for 3 days so any recommendations are very welcome for that!

Have recently seen Les Liaisons Dangerouses, Mother Courage at the Globe and Arcadia in the west end. All amazing. Feel very lucky!

Have booked The Lives of Others (love the film and Robert Icke, wish it didn't feature Keira Knightley then the tickets might not have been so extortionate), the one about Keynes whose title I forget, and the Oresteia at the Bridge. Slightly nervous of that because don't want to wipe the memory of the amazing Robert Icke Oresteia of a few years ago.

I finally saw The Misanthrope yesterday evening and thought it was pretty terrible. I didn't hate it - I enjoyed the performances, thought Sandra Oh was great, and comic timing was good throughout; but what on earth was it supposed to be about and what did they think they were satirising? My immediate thought was that they started by wanting to present a satire about cancel culture but then bottled it and ended up with a watered down script that set up lots of ideas and took them nowhere. Worse than that, it just seemed to stop. Where was the denouement?
Good performances, awful play. The worse thing I've seen this year.

I have tickets for Abigail's Party and The Standard of Living.

I got a cheap Today Tix deal for AP - interested to see it but Nadia Fall often gets the meaning of a play off kilter, IMO. I didn't like her Entertaining Mr Sloane much, also with Tamsin O.

I'd like to see The Truth if I can get a good deal. Just because I love S Mangan.

If anyone is in Edinburgh, a show called Richard Ashcroft Revived My Libido is good. Very funny. I happened to catch it at a small venue in London.

DD and I are just back from our marathon week of theatre shows in London. Over the week we saw
Death Note
Operation Mincemeat
Ride the Cyclone
Phantom of the Opera
Moulin Rouge
Hades Town
Les Mis
And Beetlejuice

Poorest of the week for me was Moulin Rouge due to heavy reliance on stitching together multiple lines for popular songs rather than writing their own material from scratch. Very much felt like 'guess the song'.

A few were re-watches of things we know we like.

Of the ones we hadn't seen, Death Note was very enjoyable. And Les Mis very powerful. Excellent performances.

Phantom, while usually our favourite was a touch disappointing. They have recast Carlotta and DD's favourite is now not in the role. It's big news that Sierra (who has played Christine) is now in the role, and she was good, but we preferred Joanna's rendition.

Saw the matinee of The Orestaia today. How the actors are doing it twice in a day is beyond me. It’s very demanding on them. Some of the performances - particularly from the younger cast members, as well as David Morrissey - were really strong. But overall, it was a disappointment. The set only supported the story telling some of the time, and the script and structure were a bit of a mess, especially in the final third. Such a shame, because the updating, with this cast, could have worked so well.

@partystressit lost me two thirds in too. I think from the bathtub forward I just checked out.

Going to see How the Other Half Loves at Old Vic this week

I thought the acting in the Oresteia was amazing, but the play was a mess. Especially as (spoiler alert) you find out at the end he didn't actively do the thing that set off the chain of events. I am still obsessed with the Robert Icke Oresteia I saw at Trafalgar studios about 10 years ago. The scene where Iphigenia was killed haunts me to this day. I've realised that when it comes to modernised versions of Greek Tragedies/classics, I love Robert Icke (also loved his Oedipus) and dislike Simon Stone (also found Phaedra and Yerma tedious with lots of posh people shouting at each other in a glass box)

How did you fit that all in one week?

With a lot of planning around different shows that are available as matinees on different days.

Sun night - Comedy Store players.
Monday evening - Death Note at the Barbican
Tues matinee - Operation Mincemeat.

Then across to the Southwark Playhouse Elephant for Ride the Cyclone in the evening.

Wed matinee - Phantom of the Opera. Then walked to Moulin Rouge for the evening showing.

Thurs 2 shows on one street. Hadestown Matinee then Les Mis evening.

Friday - Beetlejuice in the Prince Edward's Theatre.

We fitted in museums and general sightseeing in the mornings. Walked 20k steps each day, and had a few numb-bum moments from a lot of time sat in different theatre seats. :)

@AndresyFiorella I wish I had seen Icke’s version instead. Like you I loved Oedipus.

Seeing Electra at the NT next month and hoping the production does it justice!

The Electra with Brie Larson was probably the worst thing I've ever seen at the theatre. It should be better than that hopefully!!!

I would love to see Electra at the NT but I wasn’t organised enough to get a ticket and of course it’s sold out (Cate Blanchett stars).