By Aline Mahrud
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHEN?: Wednesday 13 May, opens 19 May and runs through 11 July 2026 RUNTIME: 130 minutes (no interval)
This is the story of widow and grandmother Joan, played by Linda Bassett (What If I Only, Royal Court), who finds herself in a care home after a fall.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHEN?: Saturday 9 May, opens 11 May and runs through 30 May 2026 RUNTIME: 85 minutes (including Godot’s To-Do List)
Oscar winner Oldman (Apple’s Slow Horses) directs and stars in this Samuel Beckett monologue which he originally brought to the York Theatre Royal last year, the venue where he made his professional acting debut in 1979.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: Saturday 9 May (matinee), opens 18 May and runs through 4 July 2026 RUNTIME: 170 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
Inside No 9 and Waterloo Road‘s Noah Valentine follows in the footsteps of Daniel Radcliffe in baring all as troubled 17-year-old Alan Strang who is blinding horses.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHEN?: Friday 8 May and runs through 10 May 2026 RUNTIME: 60 minutes (interval)
It’s a tale as old as time but young gay love story Homo is the anti-Heartstopper.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: Monday 4 May, opens 12 May and runs through 1 August 2026 RUNTIME: 110 minutes (no interval)
You join us in an Essex woodland meeting place in the titular 1536 where 3 young women meet regularly to discuss the news from London about the fall of Queen Anne Boleyn alongside local gossip.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHEN?: Saturday 2 May (matinee) and runs through 30 May 2026 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (includes a 20-minute interval)
1 of the joys of the West End is that early casting news means we know Lee, who here bares his washboard abs, bottom and soul as a troubled stripper, will play Prince Charming opposite French and Saunders in Cinderella in the Palladium pantomime this Christmas.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHEN?: Thursday 30 April and runs through 29 May 2026 RUNTIME: 130 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
The depth of the relationship between John Lennon and Beatles manager Brian Epstein has been much speculated upon and here Calam Lynch and Noah Ritter explore what was certainly an unusually close friendship.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: Monday 20 April, opens 29 April and through 6 June 2026 RUNTIME: 105 minutes (no interval)
It’s just when you think Mass has run its considerable dramatic course that Monica Dolan’s mother Linda re-appears after bidding farewell to unpin an emotional grenade that can’t fail to obliterate the viewer.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHEN?: Wednesday 15 April and runs through 16 May 2026 RUNTIME: 100 minutes (no interval)
The audience taking their seats is welcomed with the offer of karaoke at The Sun Inn near Manchester by young barman Valentine played by Aaron Anthony.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: Saturday 4 April, opens 8 April and runs through 23 May 2026 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
We had tickets to see Jessica Chastain in Jamie Lloyd’s version of this Ibsen classic before Covid hit in 2020 and sadly it never made it to the Playhouse Theatre in London although it did run on Broadway.
