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May Preview: 40 Shows You May Want To See Next Month

Guess what? It’s gonna be May, and the month brings it with a host of new and exciting shows to enjoy all over the UK. Here are 40 shows you may love next month:


1536 (Ambassador’s Theatre)

2nd May - 1st August


The historical drama with a modern edge, transfers to the West End following a sold-out run at the Almeida Theatre in a play that explores the dynamics of female friendship in a world stacked against women.



SHERLOCK HOLMES (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre)

2nd May - 6th June


From writer Joel Horwood and directed by Sean Holmes comes a thrilling new adventure, hurtling through the streets of London and down the River Thames to the heart of Regent’s Park.



BANK OF DAVE THE MUSICAL (The Lowry/Curve Leicester)

2nd - 16th/20th - 30th May


A home-grown, brand new British musical bursting with northern grit and laugh-out-loud humour tells the true-ish story of Dave Fishwick. Already a bestselling novel and a #1 film on Netflix, Rob Madge and Pippa Cleary bring this new musical adaptation, directed by Nikolai Foster.



TOTAL ECLIPSE (London Coliseum)

3rd May


A one-night gala event featuring the works of Jim Steinman starring Bat Out Of Hell alumni Glenn Adamson and Danielle Steers, leading an all-star cast including Christina Bianco, Natalie May Paris and Tyce Green accompanied by the ENO Orchestra.



LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Underbelly Boulevard)

5th - 23rd May


Jack Thorne adapts John Ajvide Lindqvist’s original vampire novel and Tomas Alfredson’s iconic film for the stage. Directed by Olivier and UK Theatre Award-winning Director James Dacre, and featuring 18 of Britain’s most talented young performers from the NYT REP Company,



DERRIERE ON A G STRING (King’s Head Theatre)

5th May - 7th June


Very fun, quite silly, and rather naughty; this new comedy gleefully subverts the best-loved pieces of classical music in ways you’ve never thought of them before. From chaos and carnage to homoerotic romp, this original series of dance and physical theatre sketches by Some Smith and Moore is an evening to expect the unexpected.



FLUSH (Arcola Theatre)

6th May - 6th June


This hilarious, fast-moving ensemble comedy-drama is told in fragments and flushes, capturing the blur of being many things at once: bold, fragile, furious absurd - this i an ode to the women who hold your hair back, hype you up and sometimes just hand you loo roll.



THE WASP (Southwark Playhouse Borough)

6th May - 30th May


A twisting two-hander, this electric thriller from Morgan Lloyd Malcolm asks how far beyond the playground we carry our childhood experiences – and to what lengths some people are willing to go in order to come to terms with them.



I’M NOT BEING FUNNY (Bush Theatre)

7th May - 6th June


A new play from writer Piers Black about hope, endings and how to survive if a knock-knock joke hits you in the gut stars Tia Bannon and Jermone Yates.



QUARTET IN AUTUMN (Arcola Theatre)

7th May - 13th June


Samantha Harvey adapts the beloved novel by Barbara Pym for the stage in a wry and poignant ode to ageing, friendship and the strange poetry of everyday life.



KRAPP’S LAST TAPE/GODOT’S TO-DO LIST (Royal Court)

8th - 30th May


Starring and directed by Gary Oldman, Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape returns to the Royal Court, where it played in 1958, preceded every night by a new Beckett-inspired short play Godot’s To-Do List, written by Leo Simpe-Asante.



AN IDEAL HUSBAND (Lyric Hammersmith)

8th May - 6th June


This bold new production of Oscar Wilde’s enduring comedy on how to forgive the people we love is directed by Nicholai La Barrie and heads to London for a limited run.



EQUUS (Menier Chocolate Factory)

8th May - 27th June


Peter Shaffer‘s brilliantly intriguing, award-winning play returns to London in a co-production with Theatre Royal Bath, where it will play following this run.


ECLIPSE (Minerva Theatre)

8th May - 6th June


A painfully funny, acute and delicate play about our struggle to communicate, in the face of life and of death. And our infinite capacity for drinking tea.



THE LAST MAN (Southwark Playhouse Elephant)

8th May - 6th June


A gripping one-person musical that plunges audiences into the heart of a global catastrophe. Driven by an electrifying live rock score, this psychological thriller is packed with explosive energy, dark wit, and razor-sharp storytelling that questions what it truly means to be human.



STAGE KISS (Hampstead Theatre)

8th May - 13th June


Sarah Ruhl's brilliant romantic comedy makes its UK premiere, following a critically acclaimed New York run in 2014. Directed by Blanche McIntyre, art imitates life as two leading actors have an explosive romantic history of their own.



THESPIANS (UK Tour)

9th May - 18th July


Mischief will debut their first musical comedy for a limited 9-week UK tour. Written by Jonathan Sayer and Ed Zanders, this musical takes audiences back to ancient Greece.


Dates and tickets at www.thespiansmusical.com 


CARE (Young Vic)

11th May - 11th July


Internationally acclaimed auteur Alexander Zeldin writes and directs this UK premiere, a life-affirming play that follows one family’s journey through loss and unexpected joy.


Tickets from www.youngvic.org 


WHODUNNIT (UNREHEARSED) 4 (Park Theatre)

11th May - 27th June


Returning to Park Theatre, this fundraiser stars a different celebrity each night who doesn’t know their lines. The list of huge stars appearing is available, but the matter of which performance each will appear at won’t be disclosed until they walk on stage.



MARILYN: THE WOMAN BEHIND THE ICON (Upstairs At The Gatehouse)

12th - 24th May


Marking the centenary of her birth, this world premiere imagines Marilyn Monroe at 100, looking back on the girl she was and the legend she became. Blending original songs and music with powerful drama, this intimate new work brings us face to face with three generations of women.



ALLEGRA (UK Tour)

12th May - 4th July


Dame Maureen Lipman stars in the world premiere of this new comedy by Peter Quilter in a joyful, heartwarming comedy that tours the UK prior to a planned West End run.



CHURCHILL’S URINAL (King’s Head Theatre)

13th May - 6th June


Satirist Rosie Holt writes and stars in this world premiere as a fearless female Chancellor of the Exchequer determined to get rid of the ancient urinal in a rambunctious romp through the corridors of power.



THE TEMPEST (Royal Shakespeare Theatre)

13th May - 20th June


Kenneth Branagh stars as Prospero in Shakespeare’s final play, a meditation on art, power and freedom, directed by Richard Eyre.



STARKID: THE GUY WHO DIDN’T LIKE MUSICALS (Apollo Theatre)

14th - 30th May


Musical theatre’s original Internet phenomenon Starkid announces their first ever London season, hitting the West End with this horror-comedy.



END OF THE RAINBOW (Soho Theatre Walthamstow)

15th May - 21st June


Jinkx Monsoon stars in a strictly limited run of Peter Quilter’s theatrical depiction of Judy Garland in the final chapter of her life.


Tickets from www.sohotheatre.com 


THE HARDER THEY COME (Stratford East)

16th May - 4th July


Following an acclaimed run last year, the musical based on the cult classic film that brought reggae to the world returns to London, featuring a soundtrack including Jimmy Cliff’s hits.



BLACK COMEDY (Orange Tree Theatre)

16th May - 11th July


Director Caroline Steinbeis reunites comedy legends Javier Marzan and John Nicholson for this shimmering comedy of light and darkness.



WAR HORSE (Olivier Theatre)

16th May - 30th July


The global phenomenon gallops home following a sell-out national tour, returning to where it all began, nearly two decades after its debut in this stunning adaptation of Michael Morpugo’s beloved novel.



DARK OF THE MOON (Charing Cross Theatre)

18th May - 8th August


A supernatural tale of witchcraft, small-town prejudice, forbidden romance and the power of faith in a timeless, spellbinding new musical starring Glenn Adamson and Lauren Jones.



HIGH SOCIETY (Barbican Theatre/UK Tour)

19th May - 11th July


Helen George and Felicity Kendal star in a new production of Cole Porter’s classic, delivering a glorious dose of Golden Age musical theatre escapism at the Barbican before heading out on a tour.



BEETLEJUICE (Prince Edward Theatre)

20th May - 17th April 2027


It’s showtime! The spectacular Broadway sensation finally crosses over for a strictly limited run in the West End from May 2026 until April 2027.



REDCLIFFE (Southwark Playhouse Borough)

22nd May - 4th July


The fully staged premiere of this new musical written by and starring Jordan Luke Gage is based on the haunting true story of William Critchard and Richard Arnold in Redcliffe, Bristol and is an epic tale of forbidden love during the persecution people faced for hundreds of years.



ONCE (Piltochry Festival Theatre)

23rd May - 27th June


The Scottish premiere of the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical features the original creative team of director John Tiffany and choreographer Steven Hoggett.



ANNIE (UK & Ireland Tour)

23rd May - 14th March 2027


The classic musical returns for a huge new tour, with La Voix starring as Miss Hannigan until 4th July and further casting to be announced.



CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (Watermill Theatre)

26th May - 13th September


The Newbury theatre’s now traditional summer musical is a brand-new production of the family classic with the iconic songs played live by a cast of actor-musicians.



THE P WORD (Bush Theatre)

26th May - 27th June


After wowing critics and audiences in 2022, Waleed Akhtar’s Olivier Award-winning story of hope and romance returns for a strictly limited run in a sharo-witted and devastating play charting the parallel lives of two gay Pakistani men.



ARE YOU WATCHING (Royal Court)

29th May - 4th July


Georgie Dettmer makes her professional playwriting debut with this world premiere, blurring the lines between entertainment and abuse, technology and sex, violence and voyeurism.



ATONEMENT (Chichester Festival Theatre)

29th May - 20th June


Ian McEwan’s masterpiece is adapted for the stage by Christopher Hampton in this world premiere, stretching from the 1930s through the Second World War to the present day,



WE HAD A WORLD (Hampstead Theatre)

29th May - 4th July


Suzanne Bertish, Anna Francolini and Ryan Kopel star in Joshua Harmon’s deeply personal and searingly funny play, bringing to theatrical life his New York childhood, caught between his hilariously eccentric but indomitable grandmother and his mother.



LES MISERABLES - THE ARENA CONCERT SPECTACULAR (World Tour)

29th May - 2nd August


After a year of 40th anniversary celebrations, the huge world tour continues with stops at Dublin’s 3Arena, London’s Royal Albert Hall and New York’s Radio City Music Hall.


Dates and tickets at https://worldtour.lesmis.com/ 


What are you most looking forward to seeing in May?


Let me know in the comments or on all my socials - @ATDazzles on X, Instagram, Threads, Facebook and TikTok, and look out for reviews of many of them on the website over the next month as well as conversations with the stars of the latest shows on my podcast All That Chat, with new episodes on Apple Podcasts and Spotify every Monday.


To have your show included in the June preview or any other monthly post, send me an email with details of your show and I’ll include as many as possible.

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