By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK? *****
WHEN? Tuesday 11 November, runs through 6 December 2025 RUNTIME: 100 minutes (no interval)
Conor McPherson (The Brightening Air, Old Vic) adapts The Hunger Games which opens this week in London and this won the Best New Play Olivier in 1999.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHEN? Tuesday 14 October, tour runs through 16 May 2026 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
We catch this musical realisation of the Steps songbook shortly before the departure this week of its leading lady Rebecca Lock (Heathers, Other Palace) to musical Freaky Friday in Manchester.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN? Saturday 28 September 2025, runs through 10 January 2026 RUNTIME: 165 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
Stephen Fry returns to the West End stage as Lady Bracknell for the 1st time since being nominated for a Tony for his Malvolio in 2012’s Twelfth Night and appearing as The Narrator in the Rocky Horror Show in 2015.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN? Tuesday 19 August, opens 26 August and runs through 4 October 2025 RUNTIME: 165 minutes (including 2 intervals)
What do you get if you cross the desire for self-sufficiency of TV’s The Good Life with the farming techniques of wilding and regeneration seen in Clarkson’s Farm?
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
Tracklist: It’s Cian Bitch; Who’s Making You Feel It?; Little Dreaming; Unfair; What About Love?; Shalalala; Rock Bottom; Kiss And Tell; The Book Of Love; Hallelujah; Break My Heart; No Way To Live; God Only Knows; My Best Friend; Your Eyes; See It To Believe It
Authenticity is the key to Ducrot’s success and while we’ve enjoyed the radio friendliness of the singles released ahead of this 2nd album it’s the rawness of the emotion exposed within this long player that continues to fascinate us about his work.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHEN? Monday 4 August, opens 11 August and runs through 20 September 2025 RUNTIME: 135 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)
This outdoor setting is the perfect venue for this updated musical of 2 crashed World War Two airmen who stumble across a Scottish Highlands village seemingly suspended in time and not on any map.
By Aline Mahrud
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN? Saturday 26 July, runs through 9 August 2025 RUNTIME: 145 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
Jack Thorne (The Motive And The Cue, National Theatre) recently described Lynn Nottage, the author of this play, as ‘the closest thing to a living Shakespeare we have’ and on the evidence of this production it’s easy to see why.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
It’s by no means la Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires but the London Palladium balcony performance given by Rachel Zegler at 9pm on show nights and 4pm on matinees to the hundreds of passers-by in the capital has, quite rightly, earned itself a single release.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN? Saturday 14 June, opens 27 June and runs through 6 September 2025 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)
Zegler may be best known currently as a film star (West Side Story and more recently Snow White) but that is all about to change as she is absolutely sensational in this debut London stage role.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2
Tracklist: Princess Of Power; Butterfly; Cuntissimo; Rollercoaster; Cupid’s Girl; Metallic Stallion; Je Ne Sais Quoi; Digital Fantasy; Everybody Knows I’m Sad; Hello Kitty; I >3 You; Adult Girl; Final Boss
How To Be A Heartbreaker is 1 of Marina’s (formerly of And The Diamonds fame) best known hits and now she appears to have come full circle and released a break-up album.
