1. Stranger Things at the Phoenix Theatre

The 80s-set Netflix sci-fi series of the same name won our 2016 Best TV monsta and so we’re very much looking forward to its theatrical counterpart promising to turn back the clock to Hawkins in 1959 ‘before the world turned upside down’. Stranger Things: The First Shadow invites us to explore the history of Hawkins and the origins of some key characters. Runs at the Phoenix Theatre 17 November through 25 August 2024. Tickets Preview review

• Read on for reasons including Snow White, Cian Ducrot, Feeling Afraid and The Witches

2. Snow White at the Greenwich Theatre

Last year monstagigz favourite Andrew Pollard (the monsta-winning  Tom, Dick and Harry at Alexandra Palace Theatre) stepped aside as writer of the Greenwich Theatre pantomime to give familiar face Anthony Spargo a chance to shine and his Robin Hood was a 5-star treat. This year he once again writes Snow White which runs at Greenwich Theatre 23 November through 7 January 2024. Tickets Our review

3. Harriet Walter in Rebecca Frecknall’s The House Of Bernarda Alba

Frecknall directed Romeo and Juliet at the Almeida this year and here takes on Federico Garcia Lorca as viewed by Alice Birch starring Walter (Henry IV, Donmar at King’s Cross Theatre) in a story of a daughter forced to live under her mother’s tight grip as the family mourns their father’s death. Runs at the Lyttelton Theatre at the National 16 November through 6 January 2023. Tickets Preview review

4. Cian Ducrot plays Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith

Ducrot released his debut album Victory which topped the UK and Irish charts in August and we said of it: ‘Our album of the year so far and 1 we think can only be beaten by something truly exceptional.’ A 36-date European tour including the UK and Ireland features this, his biggest London gig so far, and we can’t wait to see how much he’s grown since we saw him at Victorious this summer. Tickets Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith review

5. Feeling Afraid … at the Bush Theatre

Samuel Barnett (Allelujah!, Bridge Theatre) won a Scotsman Fringe First and a Stage Edinburgh Award at this summer’s Edinburgh Festival thanks to this dark journey through self-awareness and self-sabotage written by Marcelo Dos Santos. Runs at the Bush Theatre 10 November through 23 December 2023. Tickets Preview review

6. The Witches at The National

Lucy Kirkwood wrote The Welkin and Mosquitoes starring Olivia Colman at this venue and here pens book and lyrics with music by Dave Malloy under the direction of Lyndsey Turner (Hamlet, Barbican) for a take on the Roald Dahl children’s classic. Cast includes Daniel Rigby whose performance in Accidental Death Of An Anarchist in the West End this summer drew acclaim. Runs 7 November through 27 January 2024. Tickets Preview review

7. Sam Tutty in Two Strangers at the Kiln Theatre

Tutty recently starred in the West End production of mental health musical Dear Evan Hansen and here plays naive Dougal who flies to New York for the 2nd wedding of the dad he’s never met. This new British musical from writers Jim Barne and Kit Buchan plays at the Kiln Theatre 9 November through 23 December 2023. Tickets Our 1st preview review

8. Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn

Writer/director Emerald Fennell follows up 2020’s Promising Young Woman, for which she won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, with this psychological thriller drama film about Oxford University student Oliver Quick (played by the monsta-winning Barry Keoghan) who becomes infatuated with his aristocratic male schoolmate. Opens in the UK 17 November.

9. Madonna, The Producers & Rocky Horror Show in Barcelona

We’re in Barcelona for a fortnight in November and check out our reviews of Madonna’s Celebration Tour from the Palau Sant Jordi (Tickets), The Rocky Horror Show at the Teatre Coliseum (Tickets) and The Producers at the Tivoli (Tickets). Our last Rocky Horror was at the Playhouse in London in 2015 and Theatre Royal Brighton in 2018 and our Barcelona visit to it is on Halloween, the night before a bank holiday. Rocky Horror Show in Barcelona review. Madonna in Barcelona review

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy Sonia Friedman Productions Tickets
• Have you seen Stranger Things on Neflix before and are you looking forward to the play?
• Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this review? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook