15 essential plays and musicals to book tickets for in Autumn 2019
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The Son
First seen at the Kiln theatre, Florian Zeller’s harrowing portrait of a young teenage boy unravelling following his parents' divorce – with his nearest and dearest struggling to cope with his depression – features strong performances, impeccable direction from Michael Longhurst, and a fine translation from Christopher Hampton. Read the full review Duke of York’s Theatre, London WC2 (0844 871 7623), until Nov 2
The Man in the White Suit
Stephen Mangan reunites with director Sean Foley after their success with Jeeves and Wooster to play a man who invents a fabric that never gets dirty or wears out, only to face a sabotage campaign from threatened manufacturers and trade unions. Kara Tointon’s Daphne offers love in this caper, as seen on screen in the 1951 Ealing Comedy starring Alec Guinness. Sue Johnston also stars. Theatre Royal, Bath (01225 448844), until Sept 21; Wyndham’s Theatre, London WC2 (0844 482 5151), Sept 26-Jan 11
Buy The Man in the White Suit tickets
Two Trains Running
The recipient of the 2018 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award, Nancy Medina brings a rarity by African-American playwright August Wilson to the regional stages this autumn – eavesdropping on regulars at a Pittsburgh diner, circa 1969. Nixon’s in the White House, the restaurant risks being torn down. Royal & Derngate, Northampton (01604 624811), until Sept 14, then tours to Nov 27
A Very Expensive Poison
Lucy Prebble has adapted Luke Harding’s acclaimed 2016 account of how Alexander Litvinenko – a former officer of the Russian FSB secret service, turned defector and MI6 informant – came to succumb to (radioactive) Polonium in a London hospital in 2006; the stuff of thrillers, and nightmares. Old Vic Theatre, London SE1 (0844 871 7628), until Oct 5
Buy A Very Expensive Poison tickets
Birthdays Past, Birthdays Present
Alan Ayckbourn's 83rd play, premiering in the year of his 80th birthday and set at an 80th birthday party. The action spins backwards in time, covering sixty years of its hero’s life. Stephen Joseph, Scarborough (01723 370541), Sept 10 and in rep until Oct 5
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
The play that made Peter Nichols’s name just over 50 years ago: a risqué tragicomedy about parenting a severely disabled child, it gets a fresh outing at the hands of rising director Simon Evans. Toby Stephens and Claire Skinner take the leads as Bri and Sheila, the fraught couple who raise their daughter with a music-hall larkiness. Patricia Hodge plays the interfering flibbertigibbet Grace. Trafalgar Studios, London SW1 (0844 871 7632), Sept 20 until Nov 30
Buy A Day in the Death of Joe Egg tickets
The Watsons
Laura Wade (Posh, Home, I’m Darling) completes Jane Austen’s unfinished novel about a woman who has to return to her family after being raised by a rich aunt; the result – involving the Pirandellian conceit of the author herself attempting to tell the characters what to do – was acclaimed at Chichester last year. Menier Chocolate Factory, London SE1 (020 7378 1713), Sept 30 until Nov 16
Solaris
A new play by David Greig adapted from Stanislaw Lem’s novel in which scientists on a space station make fraught contact with a new planet. Are they studying it, or is it studying them? Lyric Hammersmith, London W6 (020 8741 6850), Oct 14 until Nov 2
Translations
A beautiful, thoughtful revival by Ian Rickson of Brian Friel’s 1980 masterpiece revisiting the early 19th century British mapping of Ireland and tracing a doomed romance across the contours of the colonial divide; back by popular demand after an acclaimed run in 2018. National’s Olivier Theatre, London SE1 (020 74523000), Oct 21 until Dec 18
Death of a Salesman
Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell’s racially reconceived production of Arthur Miller’s masterpiece of mid-life disappointment and the failures of the American Dream sold out at the Young Vic this summer, marking a triumphant UK debut for The Wire’s Wendell Pierce as Willy Loman. In this transfer, Sharon D Clarke reprises her stellar performance as his wife Linda. Piccadilly Theatre, London W1 (0844 871 7630), Oct 24 to Jan 4
Buy Death of a Salesman tickets
Mary Poppins
The hit 2004 musical – with the original film’s Sherman Brothers songs augmented by Stiles and Drewe, with script by Julian Fellowes – returns to town. Zizi Strallen plays the nanny with the magic touch; Charlie Stemp, who can hoof and goof about like no one else, has been signed up as Bert. Richard Eyre directs. Prince Edward Theatre, London W1 (0844 482 5100), from Oct 23
Touching the Void
Joe Simpson’s 1988 best-seller about the terrifying battle for survival that ensued during an ill-fated mountaineering expedition up the Peruvian Andes three years earlier has been turned into a gripping stage piece by playwright David Greig. Tom Morris directs his finest production since War Horse. Duke of York’s Theatre, London WC2 (0844 871 7623), Nov 14 until Feb 2020
Dear Evan Hansen
This six-times Tony winner took Broadway as much by surprise as it did by storm in 2016. The scenario entails teen-angst with a clever twist: gauche high schooler Evan Hansen attains accidental social advantage in the wake of a fellow pupil's suicide – leaving him in an awkward predicament that begets a class-room load of songs both comically quirky and achingly soulful (penned by Pasek and Paul, Oscar-winners for La La Land’s City of Stars). Noël Coward Theatre, London WC2 (0844 482 5151), Nov 19 until April 4 2020
My Brilliant Friend
Leading playwright April De Angelis and director Melly Still have condensed pseudonymous Italian author Elena Ferrante’s internationally best-selling Neapolitan quartet, detailing the post-war Italian lives of two childhood friends. Lila (Catherine McCormack) and Elena (Niamh Cusack) wrestle with the gender expectations of their circumscribed upbringing in a two-part theatrical feast. As seen to acclaim at the Rose, Kingston in 2017. National's Olivier Theatre, London SE1 (020 7452 3000) Nov 26 until Jan 18
The Boy in the Dress
David Walliams’s best-selling kids’ book about 12-year-old Dennis, a star striker when it comes to football and something striking when it comes to dress-sense, gets a theatrical make-over, with new songs by Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers, a script by former Royal Court enfant terrible Mark Ravenhill and a family-friendly premiere production by the RSC’s artistic director Gregory Doran. Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon (01789 331111), Nov 27 until 8 Mar 2020
