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April Preview: 40 Of The Most Cracking Shows This Month

Updated: Mar 31

Another month has been and gone, and while March may have been relatively quiet when it comes to big new openings, April more than makes up for that with a ridiculously busy month full of huge new shows in London and all over the UK. Here are 40 of my top picks for April:


PUPPY (King’s Head Theatre)

 


1st – 27th April

 

Naomi Westerman’s new sex-positive, female-centric comedy stars Ashling O’Shea and features Ian Hallard and Ed Larkin.

 

 

JAB (Park Theatre)



2nd – 26th April

 

Inspired by true events from the Covid pandemic, this uncomfortably familiar black comedy drama about an NHS worker who is forced to isolate with her sexist husband of 29 years as the country goes into lockdown stars Kacey Ainsworth and Liam Tobin.

 

Tickets from www.parktheatre.co.uk 

 

SHANGHAI DOLLS (Kiln Theatre)

 


3rd April – 10th May

 

Amy Ng’s newest play looks at the untold story of two of the most influential women in Chinese history – Madame Mao and Sun Weishi – and how the personal truly is political.

 

Tickets from www.kilntheatre.com 

 

SPEED (Bush Theatre)



4th April – 17th May

 

A break-neck journey through the daily annoyances and deep-buried secrets that leave us spinning, this hilarious and heartfelt world premiere reunites writer Mohamed-Zain Dada and director Milli Bhatia

 

 

PIAF (Watermill Theatre)

 


4th April – 17th May

 

Audrey Brisson stars as Edith Piaf in a show that intertwines the great loves, losses and questionable decisions of this complex and fragile star with her raw, spellbinding songs, performed live by an ensemble cast of actor-musicians.

 

 

THE LONDON 50 HOUR IMPROVATHON 2025: BECAUSE WE CAN CAN CAN! (Pleasance Theatre)



4th – 6th April

 

Returning for its 15th year, the 50-hour completely improvised comedy soap opera in 25 hilarious episodes, kicks off at 7pm on Friday and plays continuously until 9pm on Sunday.

 

 

MIDNIGHT COWBOY (Southwark Playhouse Elephant)



4th April – 17th May

 

Famous for its triple Academy Award-winning film, the world premiere musical stage adaptation breathes new life into the classic story, exploring the depths of friendship and ambition. It features a soundtrack from award-winning composer Francis “Eg” White.

 

 

SAMANTHA BARKS (London Palladium)

 


5th April

 

Fresh from being crowned the Queen of the Masked Singer, the musical theatre star will treat audiences to songs through her career that includes Les Miserables and Frozen as well as numbers from her time as Pufferfish.

 

 

 

CASSIDY JANSON (Vaudeville Theatre)



7th April

 

The second concert in the Westway Sessions series sees the West End favourite perform numbers from her career which includes standout turns in &Juliet and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.

 

 

ALL THE HAPPY THINGS (Soho Theatre



8th – 26th April

 

The debut full-length play by playwright and actor Naomi Denny is a dark comedy about the powerful bond shared by siblings and the complexities of grief, told through a Global Majority lens.

 

 

SUPERSONIC MAN (Southwark Playhouse Borough)



9th April – 3rd May

 

This joyous and moving new musical set among the LGBTQIA+ community of Brighton stars Dylan Aiello, James Lowrie, Jude St James, Dminic Sullivan and Mali Wen Davies.

 

 

HEISENBERG (Arcola Theatre)

 


9th April – 10th May

 

Reimaging Simon Stephens’ 2015 play a decade later, Katharine Farmer’s new direction of Heisenberg reinterprets the story of identity and loneliness as a queer female romance. 

 

Tickets from www.arcolatheatre.com 

 

ORDINARY DAYS (Old Joint Stock/Upstairs At The Gatehouse)



 

9th – 27th April

 

A compelling and emotionally rich musical that follows the lives of four young New Yorkers as they navigate love, ambition, and self-discovery in a fast-paced city. It plays in Birmingham until 20th April and then in London from 22nd – 27th.

 

 

GHOSTS (Lyric Hammersmith)



 

10th April – 10th May

 

Gary Owen’s reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play stars Victoria Smurfit and Callum Scott Howells. This world premiere production re-situates this classic story into the modern day,

 

Tickets from www.lyric.co.uk

 

MURIEL’S WEDDING (Curve Leicester)

 


10th April – 10th May

 

The UK premiere production of the musical based on the cult classic movie stars Megan Ellis as Muriel with original writer/director PJ Hogan updating his own screenplay for the stage.

 

Tickets from www.curveonline.co.uk,

 

THE BRIGHTENING AIR (Old Vic)



10th April – 14th June

 

Conor McPherson returns to The Old Vic with his new play. He also directs this entrancing tale of fate, family and unseen forces in 1980s Ireland,

 

Tickets from oldvictheatre.com 

 

THE GREAT GATSBY (London Coliseum)



11th April – 7th September

 

One year on from its Broadway debut, the new musical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's iconic novel opens in the West End for a limited run

 

Tickets from londongatsby.com 

 

A KNIGHT’S TALE (Manchester Opera House)



11th April – 10th May

 

Based on the film starring Heath Ledger and Paul Bettany, the world premiere musical adaptation opens for a strictly limited run in Manchester. Expect a rockin’ soundtrack packed with chart-topping hits.

 

  

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS (Birmingham Rep)



11th April – 3rd May

 

After directing the critically acclaimed European premiere in 2019, Roxana Silbert returns for this new production of Ursula Rani Sarma’s play based on Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling spiritual sequel to The Kite Runner.

 

 

PERSONAL VALUES (Hampstead Theatre)



11th April – 17th May

 

The world premiere of Chloë Lawrence-Taylor’s latest play is a perceptive, poignant and witty look at sisterhood and the enduring strength of even frayed family ties.

 

 

THE COMEDY ABOUT SPIES (Noel Coward Theatre)



From 14th April

 

Mischief Comedy return with a brand new show starring members of the original company. Expect an uproarious 1960’s spy escapade, bursting with bungled missions, tangled identities, and miscommunication that’s anything but covert

 

Tickets from www.SpiesComedy.com

 

THE RISE AND FALL OF VINNIE & PAUL (The Glitch)



16th – 28th April

 

This electrifying new two-man rock musical delves into the fascinating and tumultuous relationship between Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin.

 

 

HOW TO FIGHT LONELINESS (Park Theatre)



16th April – 24th May

 

In this timely, dark, and dazzling UK premiere, Tony Award-nominated Neil LaBute takes an unflinching look at how we navigate our lives when time is running out.

 

 

SELF ESTEEM: A COMPLICATED WOMAN (Duke Of York’s Theatre)

 


16th – 19th April

 

Self Esteem AKA Rebecca Lucy Taylor presents a unique and theatrical presentation of her forthcoming new album in an ambitious quasi-theatrical experience that harnesses the power and energy of a gig but presents it through a theatrical format.

 

 

MY MASTER BUILDER (Wyndham’s Theatre)

 


17th April – 12th July

 

Ewan McGregor returns to the London stage for the first time in 17 years in this new play by American playwright Lila Raicek. Directed by Michael Grandage, this startling new play lays bare the vulnerabilities we expose, when we leave ourselves open to love.

 

 

TITUS ANDRONICUS (The Swan. RSC)

 


17th April – 7th June

 

Simon Russell Beale stars in this new production of Shakespeare’s bloodiest of tragedies, directed by Max Webster.

 

Tickets from www.rsc.org.uk

 

DEALER’S CHOICE (Donmar Warehouse)



18th April – 7th June

 

Matthew Dunster directs the 30th-anniversary production of Patrick Marber’s acclaimed play with a cast of Alfie Allen, Hammed Animashaun, Theo Barklem-Biggs, Brendan Coyle, Kasper Hilton-Hille and Daniel Lapaine.

 

Tickets from www.donmarwarehouse.com /

 

AARON TVEIT (London Palladium)

 


19th & 20th April

 

The first ever UK solo show from the Tony-Award winning star or stage and screen will see him bring some of his favourite musical moments to the West End stage

 

 

KERRY ELLIS (Vaudeville Theatre)



21st April

 

As part of the Westway sessions, Kerry will bring her new show ‘Queen of the West End’ to the Vaudeville performing songs and telling stories from her career so far.

 

 

MOULIN ROUGE (World Tour)

 


From 22nd April

 

After wowing audiences in the West End and on Broadway for years, the musical is hitting the road and going all over the world with a major new tour kicking off in Edinburgh.

 

 

HERE WE ARE (Lyttlelton Theatre)

 


23rd April – 28th June

 

The UK premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s final musical stars Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Richard Fleeshman, Jane Krakowski, Martha Plimpton, Tracie Bennett, Denis O’Hare and Rory Kinnear in what might be the most stacked cast of the year!

 

 

SCENES FROM A REPATRIATION (Royal Court)

 


25th April – 24th May

 

Joel Tan's shape-shifting play unfolds journey of a 1000-year-old statue of the Boddhisattva Guan Yin from China to Britain and back again, stirring up centuries of ghosts and questioning who can claim cultural artefacts – and why.  

 

 

THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR (Chichester Festival Theatre)



25th April – 24th May

 

This brilliantly inventive 19th century satire of skulduggery, mistaken identity and human absurdity stars actor and comedian Tom Rosenthal as Klestakov in a new adaptation by Phil Porter.

 

Tickets from  cft.org.uk

 

GIANT (Harold Pinter Theatre)

 


26th April – 2nd August

 

One of the plays of the year moves to the West End with John Lithgow reprising his role as Roald Dahl in Mark Rosenblatt’s critically acclaimed play inspired by real events and focusing on the fallout from Dahl’s anti-Semitic outbursts.

 

Tickets from gianttheplay.com.

 

HAMLET HAIL TO THE THIEF (Aviva Studios/RSC)



27th April – 28th June

 

In this dynamic new version,  Shakespeare’s words are illuminated by Radiohead’s album Hail to the Thief re-worked by Thom Yorke and performed live by a cast of musicians and actors.   It plays in Manchester until 18th May and then in Stratford-upon-Acon from 4th – 28th June.

 

 

WE AREN’T KIDS ANYMORE (Savoy Theatre)

 


28th April

 

This new contemporary musical from Drew Gasparini offers a heartfelt exploration of life's shared journey and how its pivotal moments shape us all. Taking over the Savoy for one night only, Dylan Mulvaney, Melanie La Barrie, Sam Tutty and Aimie Atkinson are among the cast.

 

 

REPRESENTASIAN (Lyric Theatre)



28th April

 

A one night only concert, celebrating some of the best Asian Musical Theatre performers in the country, and introducing some new talent to the West End stage. Hosted by Nina Wadia, the cast includes Joanna Ampil, Desmonda Cathabel and Lucca Chadwick-Patel.

 

Tickets from www.nimaxtheatres.com 

 

COCKFOSTERS (Southwark Playhouse Borough)



30th April – 17th May

 

Following four sell-out runs, the off-the-rails comedy moves to a new theatre with original music, relatable sketches and hilarious characters in one memorable tube journey.

 

 

FAYGELE (Marylebone Theatre)

 


30th April – 31st May

 

The world premiere of Shimmy Braun’s story of survival in the space between faith and identity, love and duty, past and future - unravelling the complexities of adolescence and the relationships that shape us.

 

Tickets from faygeleplay.com


What are you most looking forward to seeing in April?

Let me know in the comments or on all my socials - @ATDazzles on X, Instagram, Threads, Facebook and TikTok and @AllThatDazzles on BlueSky, and look out for reviews of many of them on the website over the next month, as well as features on some of these on my brand new podcast ‘All That Chat’, available wherever you listen to podcasts with new episodes releasing every week.

 

To have your show included in the May preview or any other monthly post, send me an email with details of your show and I’ll include as many as possible.

 

See you in the theatre!

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