TOP PICKS
MAY/JUNE
for the good stuff,
keep an eye on the fringe
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS OF SHOWS TO SEE IN MAY & JUNE are perfect for the laid back summer months - enjoy comedy, drama and musical theatre (for a light dessert). For more shows check out our What's On pages
here

THE NAME by Jon Fosse at White Bear Theatre 19 May - 6 June
Hornsey-Pennell Productions Presents:The Name
A UK premier by 2023 Nobel Prize-winning author Jon Fosse
A deeply human portrait of belief, doubt and the longing to be seen.
A family house by the sea.
A young pregnant woman sits on a sofa.
Her partner enters.
Her sister returns.
Then her mother.
Then the father.
What should be a simple family gathering becomes something quietly unsettling. Questions circle. Silence lingers. The unborn child waits at the centre of the room. The question of its name is never answered. The question of its origin arises. When her partner speaks of reincarnation, the mood shifts. When her former lover is mentioned, it shifts again.
“One of the most innovative playwrights of his generation… a master of concision and depth.”
— Guardian

DIGGING UP APPEARANCES at Old Red Lion Playhouse 24, 27 & 28 May
She’s Back... Again!
Britain’s biggest snob & social climber Hyacinth is at long last resurrected for the ultimate candlelight supper… of human flesh! When her beloved son, Sheridan, unintentionally summons his dearly departed mother, the lady of the house finds a new lease of afterlife alongside a newly acquired taste for brains. Expect executive tableware, impeccable etiquette and buckets* of blood! Returning to the Old Red Lion due to popular demand.
*It’s pronounced bou-quets!
★★★★★ North West End ★★★★ London Pub Theatres ★★★★ Everything Theatre ★★★★ Theatre & Tonic

SORRY YOU FELT THAT WAY at The Hope Theatre, Islington 26th - 30th May
Emma met Adam in a Tesco at a strange time in her life. After six months of romance and joy she decides to move out of her mouldy box room and into his apartment. It just makes sense! Things are looking up for Emma. But on her first night in her new home Adam’s ex-girlfriend is waiting for her in the sitting room and she no longer feels safe.
A thrilling story about love and the things we wish we didn’t know.
Following on from a sold out, award winning run at Dublin Fringe Sorry You Felt That Way returns to The Hope Theatre Islington.
Winner of The Fishamble New Writing Award 2024

HMS PINAFORE at Theatre at the Tabard, Chiswick 6 May - 6 Jun 2026
All aboard for a swashbuckling evening of music, mischief, and maritime mayhem!
After the critically acclaimed run of The Mikado at the Tabard Theatre, the same creative team return with H.M.S. Pinafore, Gilbert & Sullivan’s timeless comic opera about love, class, and life on the high seas.
Josephine, the captain’s daughter, is in love with the humble sailor Ralph Rackstraw. But social class and parental expectations stand in their way, while the scheming Sir Joseph adds a generous dose of comic confusion. With mistaken identities, secret proposals, and plenty of high-seas hijinks, this operetta is full of laughter, romance, and unforgettable tunes.
JUNE faves are here

DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS CONVERSATION at Lion and Unicorn Theatre, Kentish Town 2 - 6 June and Bread and Roses Theatre, Clapham 25 - 28 June
Nneka is a resident doctor finishing a late shift—another unrelenting and dangerously understaffed work day. Typical. Just as she is about to leave, she is suddenly asked to lead a Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR) conversation with the relative of a patient she has never met, and about a patient she doesn't know, all under intense time pressure.
Set entirely within this single encounter, the play exposes the emotional dissonance, absurdity, and dark humour of end-of-life decision-making in a healthcare system stretched to breaking point.
As healthcare services continue to operate under relentless strain, life-altering conversations are increasingly delivered in rushed, imperfect circumstances by exhausted clinicians. This play invites the audience to sit inside one such moment as a fly on the wall, witnessing the collision of grief, bureaucracy, compassion, and detachment—and asking what it really means to remain humane within an inhumane system.

HOW TO MAKE A MESS at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Highgate 4 - 28 Jun 2026
Production by:Tanya Truman Productions & Chromolume
A Mouth-Watering New Musical by Emily Rose Simons
When Anna’s estranged mother dies, she skips sitting shiva and immerses herself in NIGELLA LAWSON’s seminal cookbook How To Eat, somehow summoning an imagined Nigella as her guide.
Folding together heartache and humour, Anna rediscovers the joys of living, learning, and - most importantly - eating, one recipe at a time.
Book, Music, & Lyrics: Emily Rose Simons

funeral teeth at Drayton Arms Theatre 4 - 6 June
5 STARS “Fearless, bawdy storytelling” - The Reviews Hub
Maybe you’ve lost your marbles… Or maybe you’ve found the most transformative piece of theatre that you’ll see this year. Probably both. Nominated for a London Pub Theatre award in its debut run, funeral teeth promises a night of chaos.
What and who are we allowed to grieve? And does that really matter?
Loss is the only truly universal experience. Whether it’s coming to terms with the passing of a loved one, tucking the first tooth you’ve lost under your pillow, or realising that you have no idea where your wallet is after spending a blurry night boozing at the pub - we’ve all been there. What’s more, we’re going to keep coming face to face with loss. Lose yourself (geddit?) in the latest piece by Succulent Theatre, unpacking what loss looks like to them, what it looks like to you, and what it could look like for all of us.
4.5 STARS “A fearless production that says a lot with a little...The company manage, half-naked, to both cover a plethora of social issues and drum up pride for femininity” - London Pub Theatres

Dead Guilty at Tabard Theatre, Chiswick 10 - 27 Jun 2026
From the author and creative team behind the Tabard’s smash hit The Business of Murder comes Dead Guilty.
Julia, a graphic designer is badly injured in a car crash when her employer John Haddrell suffers a fatal heart attack at the wheel. Housebound and fragile in both mind and body, she cuts herself off from friends and colleagues and instead depends on the two people she has persuaded herself she can trust. But can she?
Dead Guilty is written by Richard Harris whose thriller/detective television credits include A Touch Of Frost, The Sweeney, The Avengers and The Last Detective. He has written such stage plays as Stepping Out and Outside Edge, both of which earned The Evening Standard Award. He also wrote the West End hit The Business of Murder which enjoyed a successful revival at the Tabard Theatre in 2024.
‘a gripping and thoroughly entertaining evening’
Chiswick Calendar on The Business of Murder at the Tabard

Jamais Vu Productions presents 113 at Golden Goose Theatre, Camberwell 26 and 27 June
No Name, No memory, No Identity. Where to begin?
49 and 64 are in the room. They cannot see each other but they can talk and pass notes. All they have is questions. Who are they? Where are they? What is going on? And why? And who is J Doe? And why are they watching them?
"A masterful piece of new British Theatre" -
The New Current
****
The New Current
****
Broadway World
****
Edfringe Review
Shortlisted: Best Play UONWF
Finalist: The Agon 2
Selected: NSDF 25
Psst ... more shows being added each week






