Best theatre, comedy shows and dance performances to book for 2021

Indoor venues across the UK re-opened their doors to the public on May 17, for the first time since last year. There are still safety restrictions in place, including social distancing and the use of masks (keep up to date with the latest rules here), but the cultural world is roaring back to life. In this guide, our critics pick the summer's must-see shows – from May to August – and recommend the hottest tickets.

Best theatre, comedy and dance shows to book in 2021

THEATRE The Mousetrap

The world’s longest-running play returns. Honouring Agatha Christie’s whodunnit will be two different casts featuring Strictly Come Dancing finalist Danny Mac, Derek Griffiths and Susan Penhaligon.

St Martin’s Theatre, London WC2 (the-mousetrap.co.uk), from May 17

COMEDY Jen Brister

A snarky account of raising two small sons, Brister’s 2019 show, Meaningless, was a critical hit. Hopes are high for her follow-up, Under Privilege.

Soho Theatre, London W1 (sohotheatre.com), May 17, June 1-3 and touring

DANCE Reunion

Seen only on film in 2020, English National Ballet’s five new works (by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Russell Maliphant and others) get a belated live premiere.

Sadler’s Wells, London EC1 (sadlerswells.com), May 17 – May 30

COMEDY Kieran Hodgson

The three-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee revives his brilliant 2016 show Maestro, in which he tells the story of his lifelong struggle to write a symphony. It's funny, touching, and ingeniously well-written.

Soho Theatre, London W1 (sohotheatre.com), May 17, June 1-3 and touring

DANCE 21st-Century Choreographers

The Royal Ballet returns with Christopher Wheeldon’s shimmering ballet Within the Golden Hour, a premiere from US choreographer Kyle Abraham, and two works from the incomparable Crystal Pite set to the music of Brahms.

Royal Opera House WC2 (roh.org.uk), May 18 – May 30

THEATRE A Midsummer Night’s Dream

“A trippy Mardi Gras, in which the fairies’ psychedelic costumes resemble something cooked up by the drug-addled mind of a children’s TV producer,” we wrote in 2019. Now, Sean Holmes’s colourful production brings the long-dormant Globe back to life.

Shakespeare’s Globe, London (shakespearesglobe.com), from May 19, booking to Oct 19

THEATRE Six

Just the loud, defiant monster musical hit that the West End requires: Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’s ingenious spousal songfest in dishonour of Henry VIII, as his wives debate who had it worst.

Lyric Theatre, London W1 (sixthemusical.com) from May 21, booking to Aug 29

COMEDY

Ivo Graham

A rising star on the panel show circuit, apologetic young Old Etonian Graham grapples with becoming a father in his delightful stand-up show The Game of Life.

Waterside Second Space, Aylesbury (ivograham.com), May 21 then touring

COMEDY Sofie Hagen

The endearing Danish comic looks back on an unlikely “sex holiday” in Swansea that took a dark twist in her latest stand-up hour, The Bumswing.

Brighton Dome (sofiehagen.com), May 26 then touring

THEATRE Touching the Void

Regional theatre climbs out of the chasm with a little help from Joe Simpson’s mountaineering memoir. Brilliantly adapted for the stage by David Greig, it relays a near-fatal ordeal in the Andes with a sure-footed sense of pace.

Bristol Old Vic (bristololdvic.org.uk), from May 26, booking to May 29

DANCE Draw from Within

Rambert’s dancers move through vivid worlds of dreams and nightmares in Belgian choreographer Wim Vandekeybus’s high-octane 70-minute spectacular.

Theatre Royal, Plymouth (rambert.org.uk), May 27 then touring

COMEDY Daniel Sloss

The young Scottish Netflix star seems to revel in bad taste, but his scabrous trolling is always offset by “who, me?” charm. His new touring show, Hubris, features some first-rate grumbling about last year's lockdown.

Leeds Town Hall (danielsloss.com), May 28 – May 29, then touring

DANCE Dangerous Liaisons

Northern Ballet’s bodice-ripping adaptation of the scandalous 18th-century French novel is moody, witty and wild, and set, marvellously, to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

The Lowry, Salford (northernballet.com), June 1 – June 5; then Sadler’s Wells, London EC1 (sadlerswells.com), June 8-10

DANCE Balanchine and Robbins

American choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are celebrated by the Royal Ballet in a programme including Balanchine’s effervescent 1960 ballet, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, and Robbins’s 1969 ballet, Dances at a Gathering.

Royal Opera House, London WC2 (roh.org.uk), June 4 – June 13

THEATRE The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber

Lloyd Webber is omnipresent this summer – in London, with new musical Cinderella (from June 25), the return of Joseph (from June 26) and Phantom (from July 27), and in Leicester with this live theatrical mega-mix of his greatest tunes.

Curve Leicester (curveonline.co.uk), from June 7, booking to June 19

COMEDY Janine Harouni

Easygoing New Yorker Harouni tells the story of surviving a near-fatal car crash in her excellent, warm-hearted debut stand-up show, nominated for a Best Newcomer award at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Soho Theatre, London W1 (sohotheatre.com), June 10-12 and June 18-19

DANCE Solstice

English National Ballet offer a summer feast of moments from Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia and Le Corsaire, as well as William Forsythe’s bouncy party piece, Playlist (Track 1, 2).

Royal Festival Hall, London SE1 (ballet.org.uk), June 16 – June 26

THEATRE Under Milk Wood

Michael Sheen and Siân Phillips star in Dylan Thomas’s famous “play for voices”. Director Lyndsey Turner has found a Covid-relevant frame for the poet’s darkly comic and haunting word-music.

National Theatre, London SE1 (nationaltheatre.org.uk), June 16 – July 24

THEATRE Romeo & Juliet

London’s best-loved outdoor theatre returns with Shakespeare’s tragedy, directed by the innovative Kimberley Sykes.

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London NW1 (openairtheatre.com), June 17 – July 24

DANCE Cinderella

Enjoy some fairytale escapism with Birmingham Royal Ballet and David Bintley’s family favourite.

Birmingham Repertory Theatre B1 (brb.org.uk), June 18 – June 26; Theatre Royal, Plymouth, July 8-10

THEATRE Constellations

Four stellar casts tackle Nick Payne’s intellectually fizzy 2012 play about a couple’s relationship seen through the kaleidoscopic lens of a multiverse: Sheila Atim and Ivanno Jeremiah (June 18-Aug 1); Peter Capaldi and Zoë Wanamaker (June 23-July 24); Omari Douglas and Russell Tovey (July 30-Sept 11); and Anna Maxwell Martin and Chris O’Dowd (Aug 6-Sept 12).

Vaudeville Theatre, London WC2 (0330 333 4814), June 18 – Sept 12

THEATRE Hamlet

At 82, Ian McKellen looks set to enter the record books as the oldest actor to play Hamlet. Sean Mathias directs an age-, race-, and gender-blind production.

Theatre Royal Windsor (theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk), from June 21, booking until Sept 4

THEATRE Cinderella

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new musical, scripted by Oscar-winning screenwriter Emerald Fennell, claims to reinvent the Cinderella story. Carrie Hope Fletcher stars.

Gillian Lynne Theatre, London WC2 (lwtheatres.co.uk), from June 25, booking to Feb 2022

COMEDY Romesh Ranganathan

The TV star’s latest stand-up tour, The Cynic’s Mixtape, finds him on winningly grouchy form, complaining about the daily indignities of family life.

Grand Theatre, Leeds (ticketmaster.co.uk), June 27, then touring

DANCE Breakin’ Convention 2021

There are usually people dancing in the crowded aisles of Sadler’s Wells for this all-weekend hip-hop festival. For its 18th year, Jonzi D presents two new programmes.

Sadler’s Wells EC1 (sadlerswells.com), July 1 – July 4

THEATRE South Pacific

The 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, set in the Second World War, broaches themes of racial prejudice and acceptance – via such musical gems as Some Enchanted Evening and I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Outa My Hair.

Chichester Festival Theatre (cft.org.uk), from July 5, booking to Sept 4

THEATRE The Comeback

A-lister actors are being roped in for cameo appearances in this very funny and inspired play (by Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen, better known as comedy duo The Pin) about two sets of double-acts – one young and failing, the other ageing and fading – both played by the duo).

Noël Coward Theatre, London WC2 (0844 482 5138), from July 7, booking to July 25

THEATRE Changing Destiny

Booker-winner Ben Okri adapts 4,000-year-old poem The Story of Sinuhe. Its anonymous author has been called the Egyptian Shakespeare.

Young Vic (youngvic.org) London SE1, July 9 – Aug 21

COMEDY Rhod Gilbert

The Welsh ranter’s superb stand-up tour The Book of John touches on his personal difficulties – a stroke, infertility and bereavement – but he is as funny and furious as ever.

Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury (rhodgilbertcomedian.com), July 23 then touring

THEATRE Anything Goes

Cole Porter’s much-loved romantic 1930s musical about a lovestruck stowaway, loaded with such de-lovely cargo as I Get a Kick Out of You and You’re the Top – steams into London in the recast Tony-nominated incarnation directed by Kathleen Marshall. Robert Lindsay plays gangster Moonface Martin.

Barbican Theatre, London EC2 (AnythingGoesMusical.co.uk), from July 23, booking to Oct 17

DANCE Singin’ in the Rain

What a glorious feeling it is to have this delightful production of the MGM musical back on stage. Adam Cooper reprises the iconic Gene Kelly role. Just don’t forget your brolly – 14,000 litres of water are splashed every night.

Sadler’s Wells, London EC1 (sadlerswells.com), July 30 – Sept 5

THEATRE Leopoldstadt

A welcome return for Tom Stoppard’s group portrait of four generations of Jewish-Austrian families in Vienna, which moves from the affluent 19th to the Holocaust-ravaged 20th century.

Wyndham’s Theatre, London WC2 (wyndhamstheatre.co.uk), from Aug 7, booking to Oct 30

THEATRE Mary Poppins

Back in time for jolly holiday viewing, the Cameron Mackintosh and Disney musical will once again be led by the practically perfect Zizi Strallen as Poppins and Charlie Stemp as Bert. This production features a book by Downton Abbey’s Julian Fellowes, and classic Sherman Brothers songs.

Prince Edward Theatre, London W1 (0844 482 5151), from Aug 7, booking to Feb 13

THEATRE Hamilton

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical – which tells the story of America’s forgotten Founding Father via a hip-hop-driven score – is back in “the room where it happens”.

Victoria Palace Theatre, London SW1 (victoriapalacetheatre.co.uk; 0844 482 5151), from Aug 19, booking to Feb 2022

THEATRE Frozen: the Musical

The 2018 stage version of the 2013 mega-hit film. Michael Grandage directs. Samantha Barks plays Elsa, the princess with the cryokinetic touch; Stephanie McKeon her sister Anna. Get ready to build a snowman and “Let It Go”.

Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London WC2 (frozenthemusical.co.uk), from Aug 27, booking until April 2022