Nine To Try: London Theatre Shows Opening This Autumn

Feel that? It’s the chill in the air that means autumn is (finally!) closing in – and that means cosying up by a pub fireplace, blustery afternoons spent sheltering in galleries and museums, and, frankly, an overwhelming number of theatre openings to sink your teeth into. This season there are numerous celeb-fronted revivals, long-awaited musicals and experimental shows jostling for your attention – so we’ve narrowed it down to nine highlights. You might notice some big omissions here – namely, Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, the Royal Court’s landmark revival of Man to Man starring Tilda Swinton, and Lear in November at The Yard, marking Ian McKellen’s return to the stage – and that’s because they’re sold out. Like the sound of any of the below shows? Don’t wait until they’ve been similarly snapped up.

Hackney Wick’s home of experimental theatre, The Yard, is back after a year’s hiatus – and it’s on a roll. Following Bristol theatre company In Bed With My Brother’s powerful show Philosophy of the World is a long-overdue return of Ntozake Shange’s influential 1976 play, For Colored Girls. Performed by five actors as a series of poems, brought to life with voice, movement and music by Jammz, Shange’s “choreopoem” tells stories of joy, resilience and grief. Until October 17.

Richard E Grant is returning to the West End for the first time in two decades – and it feels like a fait accompli that he’ll shine as eccentric posh novelist David Bliss in the classic Noël Coward comedy of manners. The great Christine Baranski will play his on-stage wife Judith, an aging actress who invites a young fan to her country home for the weekend, unaware that each of her family members also have a guest arriving at the same time. September 22–December 12.

Sumptuous, hilarious and packed with gorgeous songs, the Bridge Theatre’s acclaimed recent production of Into the Woods, Sondheim’s fairytale mashup musical is getting a well-deserved West End transfer. There are a limited number of under-30s tickets for £25, too. September 22–January 9.

Given the sizeable fanbase for Jonathan Larson’s groundbreaking rock musical Rent, it’s surprising that it hasn’t had a major West End presence since 1998 at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Thankfully, in time for the 30th anniversary of its Broadway premiere, Rent is returning, this time at the Duke of York’s Theatre. Stranger Things actor Gaten Matarazzo (who has a Broadway background) will star as Mark, the aspiring documentary filmmaker telling the stories of his bohemian artist friends in New York’s East Village. For preview performances until October 7, front-row seats will be available for £30 each, only purchasable on the day from 10.30am at the box office.
September 28–March 27.

Joy Nesbitt’s star is rising. The Texas-born, London-based writer, director and filmmaker will make her Royal Court debut with Blood of My Blood, a haunting play that sees a pregnant Black woman communing with her ancestors in a South Carolina Airbnb, which was once the home of Ginnie Good, a woman raising five children on a plantation while the Civil War rages. October 1–November 7.

You know French duo Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil as the co-creators of hit musical Les Miserables – but have you heard about Martin Guerre? The pair’s rarely performed musical (which won an Olivier Award when it premiered in 1997) is getting a whole new treatment under director Matthew Warchus, reimagined with new music and lyrics and performed in the round. It’s based on a true story about a 16th century French peasant who disappears from his family, and years later, returns. But is he really who he claims to be?
October 1–31.

Fans of Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami should jump at the chance to see this internationally touring adaptation of the author’s novel Hard-Boiled Wonderland at the End of the World. This dreamlike work of magical realism, set across two worlds, will star Japanese film star Tatsuya Fujiwara (Battle Royal, Death Note). October 8–11.

Olivier Award-winning director Robert Icke will direct an all-star cast in The Lives of Others, set in 1984 in East Germany. He’s adapting the 2006 German film about a Stasi agent monitoring a playwright and his lover. Keira Knightley stars alongside Stephen Dillane (Game of Thrones) and Luke Thompson (Bridgerton). October 14–January 9.

Want something completely different? The Southbank Centre’s Kunsty (taken from the German word kunst, meaning art) is back for its second year, with a host of experimental performances by some of the country’s most exciting live artists and cabaret performers. Highlights include a comedy-lecture about writing by Kim Noble, and theatre double-act Fag Packet will reprise their comedy-cabaret show Dyke Systems Ltd, which proved to be one of the hits of the Edinburgh Fringe in 2025.
November 4–6.