Top ten theatre shows opening in November 2017

Escape the dark, cold November nights with a warm blast of theatre, be it a drag queen musical, an intriguing adaptation, or an early taste of a Christmas classic!

Glengarry Glen Ross at the Playhouse Theatre

The main draw of the Playhouse’s new production of David Mamet’s classic is Christian Slater, returning to the West End for the first time in more than a decade. Not that his co-stars are slouches: Slater is joined by Kris Marshall, Robert Glenister, Stanley Townsend and Don Warrington.

Glengarry Glen Ross is at the Playhouse Theatre from 27^th October 2017 until 3^rd February 2018, with a press night on 9^th November. Book your tickets here.

Heather at the Bush Theatre

Imported from Edinburgh, by the sounds of things Heather – the story of a reclusive, but wildly successful, author – is pretty hard to talk about without giving anything away. It also comes at an interesting time culturally, where increasingly people are being forced to ask: “What matters more, the storyteller or the story?”.

Heather is at the Bush Theatre from 31^st October until 18^th November 2017, with a press night on 1^st November. For further information or to book visit the Bush Theatre website here.

Poison at the Orange Tree Theatre

The Orange Tree has a habit of securing the UK premieres of modern classics, and in Lot Vekemans’s Poison it may have another cracker on its hands. The play, which deals with the loss of a child, is already a hit across Europe, and had a very well-received run in New York last year.

Poison is at the Orange Tree Theatre from 2^nd November until 2^nd December 2017, with a press night on 6^th November 2017. For further information or to book visit the Orange Tree Theatre website here.  

The Retreat at Park Theatre

There is real comedy pedigree behind the Park Theatre’s latest production. Written by Sam Bain – co-creator of Peep Show and Fresh Meat – and directed by Kathy Burke, The Retreat tells the story of Luke (Samuel Anderson), a City-boy who’s fled to the Highlands to escape his old life.

The Retreat is at Park Theatre from 2^nd November until 2^nd December 2017, with a press night on 7^th November. For further information or to book visit the Park Theatre website here.

Network at the National Theatre

Boy oh boy could this be a doozy. Not only is it Ivo van Hove, at the National Theatre, directing Billy Elliot-scribe Lee Hall’s adaptation of the 1976 Oscar-winning film, it stars Walter White himself Bryan Cranston in his UK theatre debut. Let’s just hope it’s closer to van Hove’s A View From the Bridge than this year’s Jude Law vehicle Obsession.

Network is at the National Theatre from 4^th November 2017 until 24^th March 2018, with a press night on 13^th November. For further information or to book visit the National Theatre website here.

Photo: Jan Versweyveld

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at the Apollo Theatre

Already labelled the “new Billy Elliot” after its initial run in Sheffield, one imagines Nica Burns hopes she has found a long-term tenant for the Apollo Theatre in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. The musical, about a 16-year-old wannabee drag queen, is based on a BBC Three documentary, features music from The Feeling’s Dan Gillespie Sells and has a book by Doctor Who writer Tom MacRae. 

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is at the Apollo Theatre from 6^th November 2017 until 21^st April 2018, with a press night on 22^nd November. Book your tickets here. 

The Suppliant Women at the Young Vic

Having already wowed audiences in Edinburgh and Manchester, David Greig’s version of Aeschylus’s The Suppliant Women – one of the world’s oldest plays – finally arrives in London. As it has done in those other cities, Ramin Gray’s production, which shines a spotlight on the current refugee crisis, features a chorus of local women.

The Suppliant Women is at the Young Vic from 13^th until 25^th November 2017, with a press night on 16^th November. For further information or to book visit the Young Vic website here.

Bad Roads at the Royal Court Theatre

The Royal Court’s internationally focused season continues this month with Bad Roads, a new piece by leading Ukrainian playwright Natal’ya Vorozhbit. The play deals with “what it is to be a woman in wartime”, and is directed by the theatre’s AD Vicky Featherstone, who’s coming fresh off the enthralling Victory Condition.

Bad Roads is at the Royal Court Theatre from 15^th November until 23^rd December 2017, with a press night on 21^st November. For further information or to book visit the Royal Court Theatre website here. 

Photo: Helen Murray

A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic

Jack Thorne, the busiest UK writer around, has found time to produce a new adaption of Charles Dickens’s festive classic for the Old Vic. Rhys Ifans – last seen as King Lear’s Fool on the same stage – stars as Scrooge, with ample support from John Dagleish, Erin Doherty and Myra McFadyen.

A Christmas Carol is at the Old Vic from 20^th November 2017 until 20^th January 2018, with a press night on 29^th November 2017. Book your tickets here. 

Goats at the Royal Court Theatre

The Royal Court’s other new opening, this time on the main stage, comes from Syrian playwright and documentary filmmaker Liwaa Yazji. Goats is based on the real life practice of grieving families being given livestock for each son martyred, and features, well, actual live goats.

Goats is at the Royal Court Theatre from 24^th November until 30^th December 2017, with a press night on 30^th November. For further information or to book visit the Royal Court Theatre website here.  

Connor Campbell