Top ten theatre shows to see in March 2019

March is a BIG month for West End transfers, as well as controversy at the National Theatre, and a pair of hunks in Tom Hiddleston and Cillian Murphy!

Waitress at Adelphi Theatre

Photo: Johan Persson

Just weeks after Come From Away, and a few months ahead of Dear Evan Hansen, Waitress is the latest Broadway musical to make its way to the West End. Katherine McPhee stars, with support from 30 Rock‘s Jack McBrayer.

Waitress is at Adelphi Theatre from 8^th February until 19^th October 2019, with a press night on 7^th March. Book your tickets here.

Alys, Always at the Bridge Theatre

The second literary adaption of the Bridge’s short existence, Lucinda Coxon’s new play is based on the novel by Harriet Lane, directed by the theatre’s head honcho Nicholas Hynter, and starring Downton Abbey’s Joanne Froggatt and Hustle’s Robert Glenister.

Alys, Always is at the Bridge Theatre from 25^th February until 30^th March 2019, with a press night on 5^th March. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.

Inside Bitch at the Royal Court Theatre

Orange is the New Black this ain’t. Devised and performed by Clean Break members Lucy Edkins, Jennifer Joseph, Terri Ann Oudjar and Jade Small, Inside Bitch is a “playful subversion of the representation of women in prison and how things aren’t quite as seen on TV”.

Inside Bitch is at the Royal Court Theatre from 27^th February until 23^rd March 2019, with a press night on 4^th March. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.

The Twilight Zone at the Ambassadors Theatre

Photo: Marc Brenner

With her brilliant Shipwreck currently on at the Almeida, one of the most unique playwrights around, Anne Washburn, gets a major West End transfer when her winking, wonderful adaptation of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone makes its way to the Ambassadors Theatre.

The Twilight Zone is at the Ambassadors Theatre from 4^th March until 1^st June 2019, with a press night on 12^th March. Book your tickets here.

Betrayal at the Harold Pinter Theatre

Hot on the heels of Jamie Lloyd’s months-spanning season of Pinter’s short plays comes one of the biggest productions of 2019, complete with a mouth-watering cast including Fresh Meat’s Zawe Ashton, Daredevil’s Charlie Cox and Loki himself Tom Hiddleston.

Betrayal is at the Harold Pinter Theatre from 5^th March until 1^st June 2019, with a press night on 13^th March. Book your tickets here.

Blood Knot at the Orange Tree Theatre

The Orange Tree has a reputation for dusting off somewhat forgotten classics and reviving the hell out of them, so there is every reason to look forward to the theatre’s new production of Athol Fugard’s Apartheid drama Blood Knot.

Blood Knot is at the Orange Tree Theatre from 8^th March until 20^th April 2019, with a press night on 12^th March. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.

Emilia at the Vaudeville Theatre

After a smattering of performances at the Globe, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s Emilia finds its way to the West End via the Vaudeville Theatre, with the exciting addition of the ever-excellent Adelle Leonce as one of the three women playing the titular poet.

Emilia is at the Vaudeville Theatre from 8^th March until 15^th June 2019, with a press night on 21^st March. Book your tickets here.

Downstate at the National Theatre

Photo: Michael Brosilow

This sounds…difficult. A co-production with Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the new play by Bruce Norris – he of Clybourne Park fame – is set in a group home in downstate Illinois occupied by four men convicted of sex crimes against minors. 

Downstate is at the National Theatre from 12^th March until 27^th April 2019, with a press night on 20^th March. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.

The Phlebotomist at Hampstead Theatre

Following a well-received, and sold-out, run Downstairs in 2018, Ella Road’s dystopian drama The Phlebotomist returns to Hampstead Theatre this March for a stint on its main stage. Sam Yates, who directed last year’s West End Glengarry Glen Ross, directs, with Jade Anouka in the lead role.

The Phlebotomist is at Hampstead Theatre from 19^th March until 20^th April 2019, with  press night on 25^th March. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.

Grief Is the Thing with Feathers at the Barbican

Photo: Colm Hogan

Finally coming over from Ireland, Max Porter’s moving novella has been shepherded on stage by a crack team, including director Enda Walsh and Peak Blinders’ own Cillian Murphy, playing both a grieving husband and a giant, invasive crow.

Grief is the Thing with Feathers is at the Barbican from 25^th March until 13^th April 2019, with a press night on 28^th March. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.

Connor Campbell