London Theatre November 2026: Christmas Shows and the 2027 Shows to Book Now

What November Looks Like

The autumn openings have had their press nights, the summer shows are long gone, and the festive season starts arriving from the middle of the month. The Old Vic's A Christmas Carol begins on 12 November, the National's new Jungle Book follows on 13 November, and the Snowman flies back into the Peacock on 21 November. By early December the Palladium pantomime and English National Ballet's Nutcracker complete the picture.

Running alongside all of that is the booking story. A remarkable number of 2027's headline productions have gone on sale in the last few weeks — several of them announced only in October. If you want good seats at sensible prices for the big spring and summer shows, the next few weeks are when that happens. We have listed every one of them below, in date order.

And there are endings to plan around. Two autumn shows close on the last day of October, the Monday-night experiment at the Duchess finishes on 2 November, and the West End's three-year run of Stranger Things: The First Shadow ends three days after Christmas.

The Big Story: Stranger Things' Final Weeks

Stranger Things: The First Shadow — Phoenix Theatre Play

Netflix and Sonia Friedman Productions have confirmed that the West End production will give its final performance on 27 December 2026, a little over three years after it opened at the Phoenix in December 2023. The Broadway production closes a week later. It ends as one of the most technically ambitious shows the West End has staged this century — an Olivier winner whose opening ten minutes still have no real equivalent on a London stage.

If you have been meaning to go, the practical point is simple: the remaining dates run straight through the busiest weeks of the theatre year, and the Christmas performances will be the hardest to get. Book a midweek date in November or early December if you can. Full details and our review: Stranger Things: The First Shadow.

What replaces it is the most unexpected booking of 2027. Quentin Tarantino's first stage play, The Popinjay Cavalier, moves into the Phoenix in February with Sacha Baron Cohen in the title role. More on that in our 2027 section below.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — Palace Theatre Play

The other big franchise story runs the opposite way. The reimagined single-evening version of Cursed Child, which opened at the Palace in October, has extended its booking period to 5 September 2027, with more than 100,000 new tickets released. For families who were put off by the old two-part format, this is now one show, one ticket, around three hours. Full details: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

On Stage This November

Tru — Menier Chocolate Factory Play

Jesse Tyler Ferguson brings his New York performance as Truman Capote to London for a short season that ends on 14 November. Jay Presson Allen's solo play is set in Capote's Manhattan apartment in December 1975, shortly after the publication of excerpts from his unfinished novel cut him off from the society friends whose secrets he had printed. It is funny, bitter and sad in roughly equal measure, built almost entirely from Capote's own words. Rob Ashford directs. Ninety minutes, no interval, and the Menier is small enough that every flicker of the performance reaches the back row. Full details: Tru.

Also running this month

The Lives of Others at the Adelphi brings Keira Knightley back to the stage alongside Stephen Dillane and Luke Thompson, in Robert Icke's adaptation of the Oscar-winning film about Stasi surveillance in 1984 East Berlin. It runs until 9 January 2027. The autumn's two big comedies of manners, Hay Fever and The Standard of Living, are in their final six weeks — both close on 12 December. And the Old Vic's A Christmas Carol returns for its tenth season from 12 November to 9 January, mince pies and all.

Christmas 2026: What to Book

The Snowman — Peacock Theatre Family

For nearly three decades the Snowman was London's longest-running Christmas show, playing the Peacock every winter in the same Birmingham Rep production. This year that production has been retired and replaced with a brand-new staging, directed and choreographed by Will Tuckett, with designs by Anna Fleischle and a new Snowman created by Tahra Zafar, who built the Paddington puppet for the West End. Howard Blake's score — including Walking in the Air — stays. The story is unchanged; everything you see is new. For many children this has been their first trip to a theatre, and the new version looks set to keep that tradition going. Full details: The Snowman.

Nutcracker — London Coliseum Ballet

English National Ballet's Edwardian-London Nutcracker, which premiered in 2024, returns to the Coliseum from 17 December to 10 January. Clara's adventure begins in Drosselmeyer's sweet shop rather than a drawing room, and the ENB Philharmonic plays Tchaikovsky's score live at every performance. Two hours including an interval, recommended for ages five and up — an easy first ballet.

The big family musicals

If theatre tickets are going under the tree, the long-runners remain the safest gift: Wicked, The Lion King and the new one-part Harry Potter and the Cursed Child all have dates well into 2027, so the recipient can choose when to go.

Two Christmas shows we can't book for you

Cinderella is this year's London Palladium pantomime, from 5 December to 10 January, with Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders reuniting as the Ugly Sisters and Julian Clary as the Fairy Godfather. It is sold through the theatre's own box office. The Jungle Book at the National Theatre is a new family play by Anupama Chandrasekhar, set in the mangroves of the Sundarbans, with Hiran Abeysekera as Mowgli and puppetry by Finn Caldwell and Nick Barnes. It plays the Olivier from 13 November to 6 February, recommended for ages seven and up. Book both directly with the venues.

Book Now for 2027: The Shows Worth Securing

Eleven productions opening between January and July 2027 are on sale now. They are listed in the order they open. A few will be very hard to get once reviews land; others are limited seasons of six weeks or less.

Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities — Royal Albert Hall (from 13 January) Circus

Cirque du Soleil's January residency at the Royal Albert Hall is now a thirty-year London habit, and this year it brings back Kurios — the steampunk show about an inventor whose cabinet of curiosities comes alive, and the most successful Cirque production the Hall has hosted. The season is seven weeks and, unusually, has been described as non-extendable. Full details: Kurios.

The Guilty — Harold Pinter Theatre (from 16 January) Play

The Donmar's sold-out summer hit transfers with Russell Tovey reprising his solo performance as Joe, a police officer on desk duty who takes a 999 call from a woman in danger. Chloë Moss adapted it from the Danish film Den Skyldige, and Felix Barrett — the artistic director of Punchdrunk — directs. It plays in real time, 65 minutes without an interval, ages 14 and up. More than 20,000 tickets across the run are priced at £40 or less. Full details: The Guilty.

Dirty Dancing — Prince Edward Theatre (from 19 January) Musical

A correction to what we told you last month: the new Capital Theatre at Westfield London has postponed its opening again, so Dirty Dancing will not open there this autumn. Instead it plays a strictly limited 15-week season at the Prince Edward Theatre, moving in after Beetlejuice closes on 2 January. Michael O'Reilly returns as Johnny Castle and Pippa Jackson makes her professional stage debut as Baby. Eleanor Bergstein's stage version keeps the film's dialogue and 35 of its songs. Full details: Dirty Dancing.

Strictly Come Dancing Live — The O2 (12–14 February) Dance

The arena tour finishes in London over Valentine's weekend. Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood judge, Janette Manrara hosts, and the audience — not the panel — decides who lifts the Glitterball at each show. Three days only, with matinees on the Saturday and Sunday. Full details: Strictly Come Dancing Live.

Little Dancer — Theatre Royal Haymarket (from 15 February) Musical

Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, who wrote Ragtime and Anastasia, tell the story of Marie van Goethem, the teenage ballet student who posed for Degas' sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. Susan Stroman directs and choreographs. New York City Ballet principal Tiler Peck makes her West End debut as the young Marie, with Julian Ovenden as Degas. After a one-night concert at Drury Lane in 2025, this is the first full London staging — and it is only six weeks long. Full details: Little Dancer.

The Popinjay Cavalier — Phoenix Theatre (from 23 February) Comedy

Quentin Tarantino's first play, which he also directs, is a swashbuckling comedy of disguise and deception set in 1830s Europe, drawing on the old Hollywood adventure films. Sacha Baron Cohen plays the title role. Previews start on 23 February, with opening night on 18 March, and the run is booking until 13 June. Nobody knows yet how Tarantino's writing will play on a stage, which is exactly why this is the most talked-about booking of the spring. Expect high demand and premium pricing. Full details: The Popinjay Cavalier.

Legally Blonde — London Coliseum (from 22 March) Musical

The musical's first West End run since it closed at the Savoy in 2012 is Curve Leicester's touring production, directed by Nikolai Foster. Amber Davies — Strictly runner-up in 2025 and Jordan Baker in the Coliseum's Great Gatsby — plays Elle Woods. It is a two-month season in a very large house, with tickets from under £20. Ages 8+. Full details: Legally Blonde.

Amadeus — Noël Coward Theatre (from 17 April) Play

The first major London revival of Peter Shaffer's play in more than a decade pairs Michael Sheen as Salieri with Callum Scott Howells as Mozart. Sheen played Mozart in the 1998 revival, so this completes a rare double. Jeremy Herrin directs a Welsh National Theatre co-production that tries out in Cardiff in March before a 16-week West End run. Full details: Amadeus.

The Traitors: Acts of Betrayal — Gillian Lynne Theatre (from 11 May) Play

The BBC's hit game show becomes a scripted cycle of five plays by John Finnemore, directed by Robert Hastie of Operation Mincemeat. Every weekday performance starts from the same set-up and then branches into one of the five stories, so a character banished early one night might win the next. On Saturdays the audience chooses the Traitor. Nick Mohammed plays the Host. Previews from 11 May, opening night 8 June, currently booking to 31 July. Full details: The Traitors: Acts of Betrayal.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — London Coliseum (from 4 June) Musical

Michael Ball plays Willy Wonka in a new production of the Roald Dahl musical, directed by Nikolai Foster. It keeps Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's score and David Greig's book, and adds three songs from the 1971 film — Pure Imagination, The Candy Man and I've Got a Golden Ticket. A summer-only season at the Coliseum, with tickets from £16.50: one of the best-value family bookings of 2027. Full details: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Nevermore — Charing Cross Theatre (from 19 July) Musical

Canadian company Catalyst Theatre's gothic musical about the life and death of Edgar Allan Poe, written, composed and directed by Jonathan Christenson. It played the Barbican in 2010 and earned three Lucille Lortel nominations Off-Broadway in 2015. Casting will be announced next spring. A cult piece in a small venue, at prices well below the West End average. Full details: Nevermore.

Also already on sale for 2027: the new production of Miss Saigon, opening at the Prince Edward on 13 May once Dirty Dancing moves out.

Last Chance: Closing Soon

Martin Guerre — The Old Vic (closes 31 October)

Boublil and Schönberg's rewritten musical, semi-staged in the round by Matthew Warchus in his final season at the Old Vic. This weekend is your last opportunity. Full details: Martin Guerre.

STORIES: The Tap Dance Sensation — Peacock Theatre (closes 31 October)

The tap show finishes the same weekend, making way for the Snowman. Full details: STORIES.

White Rabbit Red Rabbit — Duchess Theatre (final Monday 2 November)

One unrehearsed actor, one sealed envelope, one performance. The last of the Monday-night season. Full details: White Rabbit Red Rabbit.

Tru — Menier Chocolate Factory (closes 14 November)

Jesse Tyler Ferguson's Truman Capote has under three weeks left. Full details: Tru.

Tosca and Adriana Mater — London Coliseum (close 11 and 12 December)

ENO's two autumn operas finish within a day of each other. Full details: Tosca and Adriana Mater.

Hay Fever and The Standard of Living (both close 12 December)

Christine Baranski and Richard E. Grant at Wyndham's; Rory Kinnear as Keynes at the Haymarket. Full details: Hay Fever and The Standard of Living.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow — Phoenix Theatre (closes 27 December)

Three years, one Olivier, and an opening sequence nobody has matched. Full details: Stranger Things: The First Shadow.

Beetlejuice — Prince Edward Theatre (closes 2 January)

The Broadway transfer has brought its closing date forward by more than three months. Full details: Beetlejuice.

Recently Closed

The Comedy About Spies finished its run at the Adelphi on 26 September, and Rob Madge's My Son's a Queer (But What Can You Do?) played its billed final performance at the Apollo on 3 October.

Quick Reference: November 2026 at a Glance

Our Picks for November

Published 26 October 2026. Dates and prices correct at time of publication — verify with venues before booking. Return to London Theatre Hub.