Specifically probably November 10. I’ll be passing through and may have the time to take in a show. I found listings for all the big musicals and such, of course, and I do enjoy them, but I didn’t see anywhere that made it clear if anybody I’d particularly love to see is in a play, or told me what the best of the plays I’ve never heard of are. Opinions?
The best show is ‘The 39 Steps’. Four actors play over a hundred different roles between them to sort of re-create Hitchcock’s telling of the original John Buchan story.
It’s great fun, easy to enjoy (whether you know the source material or not) and the time just flies by.
Aside from being very well acted and directed, and funny, it’s also very satisfyingly ingenious – both the way the cast of four becomes a cast of over a hundred and the way the bare minimum staging becomes all the different sets needed to tell the story.
Time Out and Spoonfed both cover London theatre, so you might want to check out their reviews at the sites below.
http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/
http://www.spoonfed.co.uk/london/event/search/?what=theatre&where=Where%3F&x=0&y=0
I can’t make specific recommendations without knowing your taste, but do consider looking beyond the West End. The seats there are generally ridiculously expensive and most of the shows are predictable and timid tourist fare.
Instead, try the National, the Donmar, the Almeida, The Old Vic, The Tricycle, The Hampstead, The Bush, The Menier Chocolate Factory, Trafalgar Studios, The Royal Court, The Globe or Southwark Playhouse. These all have far more interesting plays on offer - new writing as well as the classics - cheaper seats and often a much more intimate atmosphere too.
London theatres like these have developed such a high reputation that American movie stars will work for scale there just to prove their acting chops. Check each individual theatre’s site and see what takes your fancy. All the places I’ve named are reasonably central, although some will require a short taxi or tube ride from your hotel.
And if you do want a big West End musical, I’d go for Roald Dahl’s Matilda at the Cambridge. I haven’t seen it myself, but all the reviews suggest it’s terrific.
Just to say that Matilda is great fun, and worth the ticket price.
However, I would say Les Miz, but that is just me.
And if you are round in late November, Goodnight Mr Tom is having a limited revival - but you would need tissues.