The Line-up: June 2026

Dolls, djinns, and deals

Jun 06, 2026

Apologies for the limited number of reviews in May. I wrote up my visit to Krapp’s Last Tape but was too bored writing it to subject you to reading it. Hopefully the selection below will prove more inspiring as I dash from the South Bank to Kilburn, Hammersmith, and Angel.

Booking Ahead

What caught my eye recently:

Oh, Mary! has been breaking records on Broadway thanks to its latest star, Maya Rudolph. While the lead role of Mary Todd Lincoln is currently filled by Catherine Tate in London, her thunder has been stolen by news that the show’s creator and general icon, Cole Escola, will take over for four weeks from July.
In other camp theatre news, The Yard has announced its first post-refurbishment season and alongside the likes of Mrs Dalloway and Ian McKellen in Lear is a Jackie Collins adaptation performed by literal dolls, The World is Full of Married Men.
As the Edinburgh Fringe draws near, Francesca Moody has announced the line-up for this year’s Shedinburgh, complete with a run at the Young Vic this autumn. With stripped-down revivals and WIP shows, there is plenty to choose from. My personal highlight is Tim Crouch’s Truth’s a Dog Must to Kennel but I hope to dip in and out throughout the season.
Not a new play, but a beloved show announcing the end of its run. It’s no secret that I loved My Neighbour Totoro, but sadly its London residency comes to an end in January 2027. Plenty of time to buy a ticket for one last weep.

Now, what I’m seeing in June:

Under the Shadow - Almeida Theatre

They travel on the wind, just like that missile, and they only land once they find someone to possess.
When Shideh’s husband is conscripted to serve on the frontline, she is left alone with her young daughter as Tehran is bombed. As the missiles strike, something more ancient and malevolent is carried on the wind.

Based on the 2016 film of the same name, the latest from the Almeida brings the horrors of living in Tehran during the Iran-Iraq War onto the stage with a supernatural twist. Spooky plays are having a real resurgence right now and I trust the Almeida to bring this adaptation to life with a lot of depth.

Glengarry Glen Ross - Old Vic

‘But what should I tell them?’
‘The truth, George. Always tell the truth. It’s the easiest thing to remember.’
A fly-by-night office in Chicago. A brutal sales competition:
Top dog wins a Cadillac. Second wins a set of steak knives. Third and fourth get fired.
Four real estate agents cheat, fight and steal to come out on top — but can any of them win?

I have to confess I’ve never seen Glengarry Glen Ross on stage or screen, but was particularly envious when it ran on Broadway last year with a cast including Bob Odenkirk and Kieran Culkin. Now the Old Vic is giving us all a chance to see this ’80s classic with an all-female cast led by Rosa Salazar and Indira Varma.

Pride - National Theatre, Dorfman

Summer 1984. The country is in turmoil. With Thatcher battling to dismantle the coal industry, and a lethal pandemic on the rise, 24-year-old activist Mark Ashton founds an unlikely new alliance with the pit communities of South Wales: Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners.
Funny, fierce and filled with joy, what follows is the incredible true story of two disparate communities joining forces – and making history.

When the film Pride was released in 2014, it became an instant British classic. Combining the miners’ strike, lesbian and gay activists, and Bill Nighy, Pride was a joyous, heartwarming story about standing up for what’s right. Coming to London via Cardiff, the film has now taken the form of a stage musical. Expect tears and cheers.

The Misanthrope - National Theatre, Lyttelton

Alice, a brilliant novelist, despises the hollow contemporary mantras of kindness and respect. But the bolder she becomes in speaking out, the more colleagues avoid her, and the more her personal relationships begin to fracture.
As she challenges fashionable ideas and lends her voice to causes others are afraid to touch, she faces intense criticism and backlash. Alice will soon learn the price she must pay as an artist and as a woman for daring to speak her mind.

The last time I saw a Martin Crimp adaptation at the National, it was When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other, an abstract play about sex games in a garage starring Cate Blanchett. It’s been seven years since that experience, so I’m ready to give him another try. This time, he has tempted Sandra Oh to star in his adaptation of Molière’s comedy. Wish me luck.

Driftwood - Kiln Theatre

Heat is rising in colonial Trinidad. While support for political independence is growing, a downtown Port of Spain gentlemen’s club is about to be entangled in a custody battle of its own.
An unexpected stranger – Diamond – carries in a rum delivery, bringing with him a familial revelation and a pursuit for wealth. His deal with a corrupt US Marine imperils ALMA, and all who call it home. One wrong move and everything could shatter, but who will play the right game?

Warmly received up in Stratford-upon-Avon, this Royal Shakespeare Company production moves from the West Midlands to West London. Set in a gentlemen’s club in colonial Trinidad, this play promises to bring the heat to Kilburn. New writing from a debut playwright in one of London’s best independent theatres.

After Ive - Playhouse East

Damon, an aspiring theatre director, studied at Cambridge alongside Thomas Ive. After graduation, Ive became the youngest-ever Olivier winner and the defining director of his generation. Damon, meanwhile, drifted into obscurity.
Desperate to revive his career, he stages a classic play, only to discover Ive is directing the same production. It is the first in a series of unsettling coincidences that leads Damon to suspect larger forces may be at play…

I’ve only just discovered that Playhouse East exists and was scrolling their site for something to try as part of their WIP Festival when a play called After Icke caught my attention. With a perfect parody of an Almeida Theatre poster and a plot summary focused on a writer’s envy of Robert Icke, I bought my ticket hoping for some meta-commentary about modern theatre. Since then, the play has been retitled After Ive, and all references to Icke have been removed. I’m intrigued to see what slander remains.

Relics - Lyric Hammersmith

‘There’s some Alphabites in the freezer. Pop the oven on. You can eat your own words.’
When four siblings reunite at their recently-deceased mother’s home with the intention of divvying up her possessions, a long-buried family secret explodes out into the open – challenging everything they thought they knew about themselves and each other.

Much like the Kiln, the Lyric is one of London theatre’s best-kept secrets. It’s a place to watch quality theatre for the price of a West End souvenir programme. What caught my eye about this particular show was the presence of Smack the Pony and Taskmaster royalty Sally Phillips. A comedy about squabbling adult siblings sounds like the perfect Saturday matinee.

Archduke - Royal Court, Downstairs

‘Maybe the world don’t have to end at all. We can just get off the train… go get a sandwich.’
Belgrade, 1914. Three hungry young men are offered something to eat (and the chance to change the course of history). Their mission: kill Archduke Franz Ferdinand and set the century alight.

I’m finishing the month back in the attic of the Royal Court, where the boldest new writing can normally be found. When Archduke ran off-Broadway last year, the reviews were mixed, with some critics particularly unimpressed by how it played with history. At a time when it feels like the smallest act could spark World War III, I’m willing to set accuracy aside for an amusing allegory.