Theatre to watch in London and beyond

FT critics review the latest and best shows in the West End, across the capital and the UK
Andrew Scott, brilliance and dark mischief in Present Laughter at the Old Vic

Superb performances and comic timing in Noël Coward’s bittersweet takedown of fame

Best new London theatre shows: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Wife and The Sweet Science of Bruising

Gwendoline Christie in a joyous, immersive take on Shakespeare; time-travelling twist on Ibsen; Victorian women come out fighting

Rutherford and Son, National Theatre, London

Githa Sowerby’s drama has drawn comparisons with Ibsen and Shaw, but she brings sharp humour and quiet empathy to the task

Lenny Henry shines in August Wilson’s King Hedley II

The play pulses with humanity and rage at London’s Theatre Royal, Stratford East

Anna — binaural mics play a role in this ingenious cold war thriller

Theatre-going becomes hi-tech surveillance in Ella Hickson’s drama, set in 1968 East Germany

The rise of the angry young women — two new plays at London’s Royal Court

Selina Thompson’s salt. and Anchuli Felicia King’s White Pearl continue the theatre’s tradition of pioneering new drama

More from this Series

Shakespeare’s Globe celebrates the joy of theatre with its history plays

Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 and Henry V are performed by a versatile cast, led by Sarah Amankwah’s charismatic Hal

African-American twist on Death of a Salesman is a revelation

A production at London’s Young Vic that finds fresh meaning in Arthur Miller’s play

The Provoked Wife — a boisterous staging of Vanbrugh’s cynical comedy at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

This Restoration comedy is hilariously frank, but problematic

Howard Brenton’s new drama Jude is ambitious but overloaded

The playwright’s problematic response to Thomas Hardy’s novel has its world premiere at the Hampstead Theatre, London

Hayley Atwell stars in a glowing production of Rosmersholm at the Duke of York’s Theatre, London

Ibsen’s drama is given sharp contemporary relevance in this staging

Small Island brings Windrush to the stage at the National Theatre, London

Andrea Levy’s novel of arrivals and departures becomes a sweeping romance

Kelsey Grammer stars in a creaking Man of La Mancha at the London Coliseum

The musical based on Don Quixote comes to the West End for the first time in half a century

Let them Roar — the London matinee attended by 200 babies

The Vaudeville Theatre staged the first ever baby-friendly performance in the West End this week

All My Sons at the Old Vic, London — quietly devastating

Bill Pullman and Sally Field star in a production that reminds us why Arthur Miller’s questions about moral compromise still resonate today

Young lovers are the beating heart of Noughts & Crosses at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, London

Heather Agyepong is the star of this adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s young adult novel

Anne-Marie Duff is irresistible in the Donmar Warehouse’s revival of Sweet Charity

Duff excels in Josie Rourke’s London revival of the classic 1966 musical

A dreamlike production of Three Sisters at the Almeida Theatre, London

Rebecca Frecknall’s staging of Chekhov’s play creates a mood of drifting strangeness

A brilliant performance from Maggie Smith in A German Life at the Bridge Theatre, London

Maggie Smith plays Joseph Goebbels’ former secretary in this chilling one-woman show

A handsome revival of Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls at the National Theatre, London

Katherine Kingsley excels in fantasy dinner party drama

Child-sex offenders — and their antagonists — are the subjects of Bruce Norris’s new play Downstate

The performances at London’s National Theatre are largely flawless, though the play has its problems

Alexandra Palace Theatre reopens with a shambling Richard III

Headlong production fails to light up £18.8m restored space

Tom Hiddleston gives a powerfully brittle performance in Betrayal at the Harold Pinter Theatre

The final production of London’s magnificent Pinter at the Pinter season digs deep into ideas of identity, need and certainty

Admissions — a tricky exploration of race and identity

At London’s Trafalgar Studio 1, Joshua Harmon’s play sets out to examine of the difficulties of liberalism

Learning to love American pie in Waitress at the Adelphi Theatre, London

Bouncy tunes and a strong narrative propel this musical set in a diner

Showstoppers, defiance and flair: Sondheim’s Follies returns to the National Theatre

Dominic Cooke’s production combines rousing musical numbers with an expertly conjured atmosphere

Come From Away — a moving new musical at the Phoenix Theatre, London

The story of airline passengers stranded by the September 11 attacks makes an uplifting show

9 to 5: The Musical — Dolly Parton movie gets workaday stage makeover

New songs by singer enliven reworked story of office sexism and revenge at Savoy Theatre, London

An acting masterclass from Gillian Anderson in All About Eve

Anderson plays the star usurped by Lily James’s Eve in Ivo van Hove’s video-heavy production