The London Theatre Shows & Exhibitions To Book In 2024

After a sell-out run on Broadway, husband and wife duo Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker will take to the West End stage for the first time in Neil Simon’s comedy, Plaza Suite. The play tells the story of Karen and Sam, a married couple whose relationship may be heading for an early checkout. Muriel and Jesse are former high school sweethearts who seem destined for an extended stay. And Norma and Roy are the mother and father of the bride, ready to celebrate their daughter’s nuptials, if only they can get her out of the bathroom… 

17th Jan-31st Mar

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After the success of their multi-award-winning play The Ferryman, screenwriter Jez Butterworth has teamed up with director Sam Mendes again on this new play at the Harold Pinter. Fresh from directing The Lehman Trilogy to rave reviews, Mendes has taken on a very different project with Hills of California which is set in 1970s Blackpool. It has been the driest summer for 200 years, the beaches are packed, the hotels are heaving and, in the sweltering backstreets far from the ice-creams and donkey rides, the Webb sisters are returning to their mother’s run-down guest house, as she lies dying upstairs…

27th Jan-15th Jun

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Succession star and Golden Globe-winner Sarah Snook is set to star in a one-woman adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic tale. Directed by Kip Williams, Snook will take on all 26 roles in this witty take on the gothic novel about greed, capitalism and vanity. With video compilations alongside the live performance, it’s set to be a unique show.

6th Feb-11th May 

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Matt Smith leads the cast in this new interpretation of an Ibsen classic from director Thomas Ostermeier. An Enemy of the People explores the battle between truth and power in a society driven by wealth. When Dr Stockmann makes an unbelievable discovery about the healing waters in his local baths, he holds the future of the town in his hands, but those with everything to lose refuse to accept his word. As the battle goes beyond contaminated water, barriers are broken – literally and figuratively.

6th Feb-6th Apr

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Ten years after opening the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in 2014, John Webster’s revenge tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi, returns to London’s only indoor candlelit theatre. Webster’s violent tale uncovers a dangerous web of secrets and lies when the recently widowed Duchess falls in love with her steward, while her brothers fight to keep her under their control.

17th Feb-14th Apr

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Michael Sheen plays Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan, the father the NHS and Labour politician who never made it to 10 Downing Street. As he faces imminent death, the play takes us on the surreal journey through his life, from childhood and coal mining to his transgression in parliament and battles with Winston Churchill. Written by Tim Price and directed by Rufus Norris, Nye explores the legacy of the man who transformed Britain's welfare state. 

24th Feb-11th May 

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Ian McKellen returns to the stage in a new version of Shakespeare's Henry IV, adapted by the award-winning writer and director Robert Icke. England is a divided country, its leadership is crumbling and corruption is in the air. Hal wasn't born to be king, but now he will be. His father longs for him to leave behind his friends in the taverns of Eastcheap, most notably the infamous John Falstaff. War is on the horizon. But will Hal ever come good?

1st Mar-22nd Jun

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Brian Cox is set to play another patriarch, this time in Eugene O’Neill’s semi-autobiographical play. Set in August 1912 at the Tyrones' summer home in Connecticut, it follows a single day in the lives of one family. As the day begins to lead into the night, the Tyrones grapple with their own shortcomings, addictions and struggles, blaming and resenting one another in the process. It’s an emotional exploration of shattered dreams, moral imperfections and the complexities of family relationships.

19 Mar-8th Jun

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Imelda Staunton plays the title role in a new production of Michael Stewart’s 1964 play. Meddlesome socialite turned matchmaker Dolly Levi (Staunton) travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly, unmarried ‘half-a-millionaire’ Horace Vandergelder, but everything changes when she decides that the next match she needs to make is for herself.

6th Jul-21st Sep 

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This production, based on the film of the same name, features original music by Elton John and choreography by three-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell. Fresh out of college, aspiring journalist Andy scores a job at the prestigious Runway magazine working for fashion's most powerful and terrifying icon — editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly. Sacrificing her personal life to meet Miranda's impossible demands, Andy finds herself seduced by the glamorous world she once despised. How far will she go to succeed?

24th Oct-31st May 2025

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This will be the UK’s largest exhibition celebrating the influential work of artist and activist Yoko Ono. A trailblazer of early conceptual and participatory art, film and performance, a celebrated musician and a campaigner for world peace, the exhibition spans seven decades of her work. It will chart radical works created during her five-year stay in London from 1966, including pieces inspired by her husband and long-time collaborator, John Lennon.

15th Feb-1st Sep

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This is the first major exhibition to explore the complex power of cuteness, featuring works by over 50 artists and contributors. Exploring ideas of care and comfort, the surreal and the grotesque, the exhibition shows how cuteness re-imagines the world we live in today. Coinciding with Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary, the exhibition will bring together contemporary artworks, including new artist commissions and cultural phenomena, such as music, fashion, toys and video games.

25th Jan-14th 

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After exhibiting at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022, artist and photographer Zineb Sedira will show her work at Whitechapel Gallery. She will transform the exhibition space into a series of film sets – in one, visitors will find themselves in a ballroom from Ettore Scola’s iconic film Le Bal (1983) and, in another, a recreation of the living room from Sedira’s Brixton home. A full-scale cinema will also be constructed in the upper galleries to screen Sedira’s film of the same name, Dreams Have No Titles.

15th Feb-12th May 

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Life of Forms highlights the ways in which artists have been inspired by movement and organic growth, from a dancer’s gesture to the breaking of a wave. Spanning over 50 years of contemporary art, this exhibition will include a range of sculptural forms that ooze, blossom, erupt and sprawl in the gallery space. Over 19 international artists will contribute, including Lynda Benglis, Ruth Asawa, Jean-Luc Moulène, Senga Nengudi, Martin Puryear and Franz West.

7th Feb-6th May 

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London-born photographer Bert Hardy (1913-1995) was an influential documentary photographer known for his work as chief photographer for Picture Post magazine. This exhibition will include historic material from his work for Britain’s leading photo-magazine, as well as photographs from his time in the army – including imagery from the Blitz in London and the liberation of Bergen-Belsen.

23rd Feb-2nd Jun

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Following last year’s film of the summer starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, the Design Museum will open an exhibition on the history of Barbie®. Three years in the making and opening to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the brand, it will explore the design evolution of one of the world’s most famous dolls. Created in partnership with Mattel Inc, the museum has been granted special access to the extensive archives in California, and dozens of rare and unique items will go on show alongside other loans to tell the story of the iconic brand.

5th Jul-23rd Feb

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The V&A’s standout summer exhibition is dedicated to fashion model Naomi Campbell. Through the work of leading global designers and photographers, it charts her journey and rise in the fashion world to becoming one of the industry’s leading figures and world’s most famous faces. It celebrates her collaborations, friendships with designers, activism and far-reaching cultural impact.

From 22nd June

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Tim Burton is the master of the comically grotesque. This exhibition will invite visitors into his world, showing his skills as an illustrator, painter, photographer and author, as well as exploring some of the key collaborations which helped shape his career. Taken from Burton’s personal archive and representing the artist’s creative output from childhood to the present day, the exhibition includes drawings, paintings, photographs, sketchbooks, props, sculptural installations, storyboards and set designs.

25th Oct-1st Apr

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