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It’s November, and like it or not, Christmas theatre season is coming – oh yes it is! Okay, right now the idea of heading out to a panto feels faintly insane. But by the end of the month London’s festive theatre will be in full sway. Our November theatre recommendations haven’t gone too mad on the tinselly stuff – you can catch up with our wider Xmas theatre recommendations here – but a couple of bigger pantos are in the mix, plus the return of a new version of a classic festive show that’s been coming to London for over 30 years.
Elsewhere it’s a typically eclectic month of thespy London thrills, ranging from the long-awaited arrival of the RSC’s Shakespeare x Radiohead mash-up, a couple of massive shows from the National Theatre, Rupert Goold’s final piece of programming at the Almeida, a starry stage adaptation of Christian Kracht’s Eurotrash and an exciting new play about the little-known Zambian space race.
The best new London theatre shows in November 2026
1. Hamlet Hail to the Thief
The original Manchester incarnation of this audacious collaboration between Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and the RSC was not without its flaws. But director Steven Hoggett has said it has been tweaked for its London debut, and although the melding together of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Radiohead’s sixth album Hail to the Thief (pictured top) was never going to be friction free, there are moments of pure magic, a terrific cast, great songs, and it’s just kind of awesome that Yorke is doing a Shakespeare play.
Barbican Centre, Oct 31-Jan 23 2027. Buy tickets here.
2. The Afronauts
Ryan Calais Cameron is the hippest young Black British theatre maker of our time, with two wildly different West End hits under his belt in the form of For Black Boys… and Retrograde. Can he make it three for three with The Afronauts? We can’t know at this stage but there are plenty of positive signs. Aside from Cameron’s track record it has an arresting premise, telling the real life story of the southern African country of Zambia’s eccentric contribution to the 60s Space Race. And major star Lucian Msamati is a casting coup, playing Edward Makuka Nkoloso, the possibly not-entirely-serious architect of the plan.
Royal Court Theatre, Nov 14-Dec 19. Buy tickets here.
3. Cloud 9
After several years of no major productions or new work, this is an unexpectedly great moment in history to be a Caryl Churchill fan (or, indeed, to start getting into Britain’s greatest living playwright). The 88-year-old living legend just had a new short play (Triumph) at the Almeida and has a new collection of plays called Three and a Bit opening there in January. But before that, incoming Almeida boss Dominic Cooke directs a major National Theatre revival of her dizzying breakthrough play Cloud 9, an audacious work about the parallels between sexual and colonial repression that follows the same cast of characters in 19th century Africa and 1970s London.
National Theatre, Lyttelton, Nov 2-Jan 13 2027. Buy tickets here.
4. The Jungle Book
The National Theatre’s big Christmas shows are generally a pull-out-all-the-stops affair that you can probably expect to come back for more Christmases to come. This year it’s The Jungle Book, though not exactly as you know it, with an adaptation by Anupama Chandrasekhar that relocates the adventures of Mowgli the Man-Cub and his animal pals to the mangrove forests of India’s east. That’ll probably lead to some awesome sets and puppets but the main difference between this and a certain animated film is that Chandrasekhar has returned to Rudyard Kipling’s short story collection – much of which wasn’t adapted by Disney – for what’s liable to be a decidedly different version of the story to the one most of us grew up with (there’ll be no ‘Bear Necessities’ at any rate). NT stalwart Hiran Abeysekera plays Mowgli, while theatre boss Indhu Rubasingham directs.
National Theatre, Olivier, Nov 13-Feb 6 2027. Buy tickets here.
5. Eurotrash
Christian Kracht’s autofiction novel about a bizarre road trip through the Swiss Alps that he and his mother undertake in order to give away their shamefully acquired family fortune has been a big literary hit. And now it makes it to the stage in a very enticing looking adaptation by Colin Teevan, directed by Walter Meierjohann, with a terrific cast of Ben Whishaw and Kathryn Hunter.
Young Vic, Nov 13-Jan 9 2026. Buy tickets here.
6. Desire Under the Elms
Rupert Goold’s golden age running the Almeida Theatre finally ends with his very last piece of programming – a revival of Eugene O’Neill’s Greek-styled 1924 tragedy about Ephraim Cabot, an aging farmer on an 1850s farmstead who takes a much younger bride, Abbie, who is in turn drawn to his son, Eben. Ebenezer Bamgboye directs this intriguing production, which casts the Cabots as a Black family, which certainly adds an intriguing new spin to events given the era.
Almeida Theatre, Nov 10-Dec 23.
7. Nero
The untimely death of Spring Awakening and American Psycho composer Duncan Sheik in September was of course shocking in and of itself, but it certainly adds a poignancy to the world premiere of his final ever musical. Nero has in fact been in the works for over 20 years since Sheik’s collaborator Stephen Sater first proposed the project back in 2003, but it finally debuts in finished form at Southwark Playhouse. Clearly the project has been somewhat troubled, but despite debuting in a smallish British venue, it comes with a proper director (Lindsey Posner) and a proper Broadway star (Andrew Barth Feldman), who will take on the intriguing role of a young, preening, rockstar-like Emperor Nero.
Southwark Playhouse Elephant, Nov 2-Dec 5. Buy tickets here.
8. The Snowman
This Christmas, the Birmingham Rep and Sadler’s Wells production of Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman will be returning to London – just as it has every Christmas for the last three decades. There’s one big difference though: it’s a brand new Rep/Wells adaptation of The Snowman – helmed by director/choreographer Will Tuckett – which replaces the beloved but slightly creaky ’90s edition. Don’t expect any radical changes, but do expect the walking in the air and whatnot to feel a bit fresher.
Peacock Theatre, Nov 21-Jan 3 2027. Buy tickets here.
9. Cranford
The Orange Tree Theatre usually pulls out the stops for a handsome Christmas show, and this year it’s a fresh stage adaptation – from Lin Coghlan and Shaun McKenna – of Elizabeth Gaskell’s classic Victorian novel Cranford, which follows the comings, goings and encroaching modernisation of the eponymous fictional Cheshire town. Big name Tamsin Greig stars as the elder version of central character Miss Matty Jenkyns in Josh Roche’s production.
Orange Tree Theatre, Nov 3-Jan 16 2027.
10. Cinderella/Robin Hood and the Merry Mandem
London panto season tends to begin earlier than the rest of the UK and first out of the blocks every year is the Lyric Hammersmith’s seasonal show, which has probably claimed the crown of the best pantomime in London, being sharper, savvier and more satirical than its peers. With a new writer/director team of Joel Horwood and Robin Belfield there’s no guarantee this year’s Cinderella (pictured) will be a smash, but they’re heavyweight names and it’s certainly the smartest tip. Mercurial, eccentric but perennially underrated, the Stratford East panto is also always worth a look and is a bit edgier than that of nearby Hackney: this year its offering is an amusingly entitled east-London riff on the story of Robin Hood, from playwright Yolanda Mercy.
Cinderella: Lyric Hammersmith, Nov 14-Jan 3 2027. Buy tickets here.
Robin Hood: Stratford East, Nov 21-Jan 2 2027.
The best new London theatre shows to book for in 2026 and 2027.
The Royal Court Theatre has revealed an exciting 2027 season.
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