Some recommendations for visitors and residents who want to get the most from the city’s varied theater scene.
This fall’s London theater season promises star vehicles aplenty alongside robust reimaginings of the classics and even a notable song or two. What follows is just a sampling of the city’s abundance of new openings, anticipated revivals and Off West End discoveries — something to keep everyone cozy as the nights draw in.
Time-honored classics
Waiting For Godot
Samuel Beckett’s epoch-defining tragicomedy returns with some frequency to London stages. But I’ve rarely seen it better served than by the dream double-act of Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati as those engaging existentialists, Vladimir and Estragon, alongside the no less memorable Jonathan Slinger and Tom Edden as the itinerant Pozzo and Lucky. The director James Macdonald brings the same gift for textual illumination to the production that has distinguished his career over several decades. Runs through Dec. 14 at the Theater Royal, Haymarket.
Roots / Look Back in Anger
The Almeida Theater is reviving two English classics, running concurrently, whose kitchen-sink realism ushered in a more urgent, socially conscious school of theater in the 1950s. Billed as the “Angry and Young” season, Arnold Wesker’s “Roots” and John Osborne’s “Look Back in Anger” both feature outspoken firebrands trying to make sense of the world. The two productions share a single cast, led by Billy Howle and Morfydd Clark; Diyan Zora and Atri Banerjee direct. Both shows run through Nov. 23 at the Almeida Theater.
Buying tickets
The box office is often the best port of call, if you want to avoid online fees or get “rush” seats that are sometimes available shortly before curtain up. Various websites, including whatsonstage.com, sell tickets alongside reviews and features.
Drinks
Reusable Sippy Cups may be the norm on Broadway, but they are rare outside the United States. “Interval drinks,” as intermission beverages are known in Britain, are often served in actual glasses that can sometimes be taken into the auditorium and which can be ordered before the performance to avoid a crush at the bar in the break.
Programs
The pleasures of a free Playbill don’t exist in London, where programs — not Playbills, which is an American brand — must be purchased. Some theaters have gone paperless and make program information available only by scanning a QR code or looking online.
Refunds and exchanges
These policies vary venue to venue, and sometimes show to show. Some theaters will issue a credit that can be used for other productions under the same roof, but London is stricter than New York about offering money back if a star is absent.
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Source: Theater - nytimes.com
