Shops are full of chocolate eggs. Days are warming up. And the mornings are lighter. It must mean we’ve reached spring. With the Easter break just around the corner, we’ve picked a few of the London Easter shows we’re most excited about to help you with your theatregoing choices. You’re probably alright picking Easter Eggs on your own, aren’t you?
[caption id="attachment_248563" align="alignnone" width="300"] Bat Out Of Hell The Musical at the Dominion Theatre[/caption] The West End’s biggest rock musical is revving its engine and ready to go this spring. Featuring songs by Jim Steinman, most of which were made famous by Meat Loaf, it’s a motorbike-riding, leather jacket-wearing, “turn the speaker up to 11” kind of show. Its story has elements of Peter Pan and Romeo And Juliet about it. Strat and Raven are teenagers from the opposite sides of a dystopian town. Can their love possibly survive? BOOK NOW
[caption id="attachment_282334" align="alignnone" width="300"] Buried: A New Musical at Pleasance Theatre (Image courtesy of Colla Voce Theatre)[/caption] This show won the National Student Drama Festival Award in 2017, so expect something fresh, youthful and high quality. It’s the story of a young couple who discover they have something unusual in common. They’re both serial killers. And so they have to struggle with all the romcom issues of relationships while also planning murders.
[caption id="attachment_253422" align="alignnone" width="300"] Quiz at Noel Coward Theatre[/caption] Already a hit at Chichester Festival Theatre, the latest play from acclaimed writer James Graham now comes to London. Quiz tells the true-life story of Charles Ingram. He’s the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? contestant who won the top prize only to be accused of cheating. This show’s definitely a winner. BOOK NOW
[caption id="attachment_282312" align="alignnone" width="300"] The Act at The Yard Theatre (Image courtesy of The Yard Theatre)[/caption] The Yard is a bastion of edgy, risk-taking theatre. This show, performed by Company Three, is about teenage love. The first time you feel so many emotions and sensations: the anxiousness, the awkwardness, the anticipation and the excitement.
[caption id="attachment_282530" align="alignnone" width="300"] Reared at Theatre503[/caption] A new dark comedy about three generations of women sharing a house. Eileen is pregnant. She’s balancing a full-time job with raising a 15-year-old daughter and coping with a mother-in-law showing signs of dementia. And because they’re a close family, they all know exactly how to make each other angry.
[caption id="attachment_282529" align="alignnone" width="300"] Aliens Love Underpants at Underbelly Festival[/caption] If you’ve had young kids over the last decade, you must have come across these knicker-loving extra-terrestrials. The space-dwellers with a penchant for pants are brought to the stage using puppetry and music in this production that has been entertaining younger audiences around the UK for a couple of years.
[caption id="attachment_282311" align="alignnone" width="300"] Somnai (Image courtesy of Eulogy)[/caption] Experience an unusual sleep clinic in this immersive show that blends virtual reality with live performers. The clinic promises to use a dream state to open your mind. But there’s a thin line between dream and nightmare, isn’t there?
[caption id="attachment_282314" align="alignnone" width="300"] Instructions For Correct Assembly at Royal Court Theatre (Image courtesy of Royal Court Theatre)[/caption] Jane Horrocks returns to the London stage in this new play about being a new parent. But these particular parents have an instruction manual. And a 30-day, no-quibble, money-back guarantee. What could go wrong?
[caption id="attachment_283884" align="alignnone" width="300"] The Country Wife at Southwark Playhouse (Image courtesy of Kate Morley PR)[/caption] Decadence, sex, lies and manipulation – they’re all here in William Wycherley’s Restoration comedy. Morphic Graffiti’s production moves this tale about bright young things and shocking affairs to 1920s London, with its high spirits, fabulous parties and loose morals.
[caption id="attachment_282310" align="alignnone" width="300"] Relentless Unstoppable Human Machine at Roundhouse (Image courtesy of Chloe Nelkin PR)[/caption] Created by Pirates Of The Carabina, Relentless Unstoppable Human Machine headlines CircusFest 2018. Featuring a vertical trapeze, never-ending ropes and more, it’s the story of neighbours who move beyond the humdrum of everyday life to discover thrilling new connections.
[caption id="attachment_282333" align="alignnone" width="300"] An Evening Of Meat at The Vaults (Image courtesy of Kapranos PR)[/caption] Dance meets dinner meets feminist art project. As you work your way through a six-course menu, performers rise from the table, growing into a position of strength, dancing, moving and improvising around you and your meal in a unique experience.
[caption id="attachment_265876" align="alignnone" width="300"] Coraline by the Royal Opera at The Barbican[/caption] Neil Gaiman’s children’s story is given an operatic adaptation by Mark-Anthony Turnage and The Royal Opera. Follow young Coraline as she discovers a door from her house into another home. While her alternate family seem perfect at first, events soon take a sinister turn.