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While some West End shows blissfully drift on for decades, most of them have limited runs based around the availability of the cast. Shows therefore come and go, but typically there are two periods of the year when loads close at once, making way for the next slew of big openings. There’s early January, and then there’s right about now, as most of the big summer and spring shows bid us farewell this Saturday (September 5) and next (September 12).
The one show that’s been running longer than all that is Disney’s Hercules, which wraps up a slightly more than a year run at Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Saturday September 5 – if you’ve been hankering to see it this really is your last moment.
Hercules will be replaced by Sting’s musical The Last Ship and then this summer’s Sam Ryder-starring production of Jesus Christ Superstar will transfer over. However, September 5 will be your last chance to see JCS at the London Palladium, and it’ll be over a month until it resurfaces at Drury Lane for a final London stint before heading out on tour in the new year.
The last musical to close is the troubled stage adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting, which also winds up its run September 5 – this is, let’s be honest, probably your last chance to see it anywhere, ever.
Finally, four major dramas are coming to the scheduled ends of their limited runs. First, the wildly-praised Adrian Lester-starring RSC production of Cyrano de Bergerac will be finishing at the Noël Coward Theatre on September 5. Acclaimed Tom Stoppard revival Arcadia will end on September 12, concluding its run at the Duke of York’s Theatre (technically now renamed the Tom Stoppard Theatre although as this happened during the run, the ticketing sites still call it by the old name).
Stephen Mangan-led West End comedy The Truth will also wind up its run September 12, as Mangan gears up to star in October’s major revival of The Cherry Orchard. And finally, Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird will conclude its 2026 reprise at Wyndham’s Theatre on September 12.
Plus later in the month it’ll be a goodbye to Mischief Theatre’s The Comedy About Spies and the double-part incarnation of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
There’s lots of upcoming theatre to get excited about, but if you want to make sure you caught this year’s biggest shows – now’s your final chance.
You can buy tickets to all these shows here.
The best new shows to see in London this September.
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