TOP PICKS OCTOBER
for the good stuff,
keep an eye on the fringe
WHAT THE ANIMALS SAY by David Ireland, directed by Harry Burton at Finborough Theatre 29 Sept - 24 Oct
Eddie is a celebrity footballer who, despite being Protestant, is the captain of Celtic. At first, they reconnect over football, Father Ted and the staunch Unionist culture they grew up in, but what begins as banter spirals into confrontation as buried resentments, betrayal and violence rise to the surface…
Provocative and hilarious, David Ireland’s explosive debut play is a portrait of two men trapped by the stories they tell themselves and each other.
LAMBETH FRINGE FESTIVAL at 28 venues across Lambeth 24 September - 25 October
The south London event showcases theatre, comedy, cabaret, music and family events in 28 venues. It is designed as a celebration of the vibrant culture and community of Lambeth and it continues to champion underrepresented voices and emerging artists.
A few of the many highlights at Bread and Roses Theatre:
- Mekhala & Ramasura The Jewel of Light and the Storm 25 Sept, journeying through Thai mythology,
- Mid-week comedy returns with NHS doctors performing in GP Receptionist Appreciation Society 6 Oct
- Character comedy Chair Woman 17 & 18 Oct, a tightly-choreographed conspiracy thriller about the intense world of upholstery.
- Character comedy returns to the workplace, this time a recruitment consultant in
Clots 21 & 22 Oct.
GOD SAVE US! [HERE FOR] at The Lion & Unicorn Theatre 6 - 10 October
It's 1066. The French have invaded England, no one understands the new tax laws or the Latin church services, and Joan has a plan (that may or may not include livestock). When Joan convinces her local priest to let her write and direct a morality play for the village, she accidentally starts something she can’t finish, unknowingly falls into the middle of a land dispute, and discovers that the Bible is considerably more exciting than anyone let on. God Save Us! is a medieval comedy about what happens when the people who control information forget that the people who don't are paying attention. Seventy-five minutes. No interval. One very large pig.
CODEX THEATRE (PRODUCING COMPANY) REVIEWS FOR PREVIOUS WORK:
'The epitome of exciting fringe theatre' 4.5★ - RatedReviewed
'Fabulously entertaining and cleverly staged' 4.5★ - The Reviews Hub
ORWELL – The Road to 1984 by Guy Smith at Brockley Jack Theatre 6 - 10 October
ORWELL: The Road to 1984 tells the fascinating story of one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century and the extraordinary personal experiences that inspired his classic tales Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four.
It is a timely portrait of a writer whose words remain a warning – and a hope.
Stratford’s ‘performance in ORWELL: The Road to 1984 is simply excellent. His storytelling is engaging and the shifts in his physicality impressive. He uses the space adeptly (fine directing by Guy Smith), his comic timing strong… Stratford brings this most important literary figure to life eloquently and entertainingly in this very fine production.’ ★★★★ Rialto Art.
Uncle Monty's Antique Shop [HERE FOR] at Lion and Unicorn Theatre 13 - 17 October
Opening soon in a town near you! Step inside Uncle Monty’s Antique Shop — a strange little place filled with forgotten objects, each carrying traces of the lives left behind. After all... every story has a price.
Violence, control, memory and power are brought to life by a core ensemble cast performing across four chilling psychological shorts, woven together by one uncanny setting. Blurring the line between the ordinary and the unusual, Uncle Monty’s Antique Shop invites audiences into a world where every item has a history… and some histories refuse to stay buried.
Darkly atmospheric, unnervingly intimate and quietly haunting, this is horror that lingers long after the lights go down. Monty only has one last question... what would you like to leave behind?
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER? by Split Infinitive at The Hen and Chickens Theatre 13 - 17 October
Helen and Alexander have been creating theatre together for a number of years, but as Helen's memory begins to fail and they realise this is something worse than just brain fog, Alexander begins to discover things Helen has been hiding from him for years.
Winner of the Fringe Theatre Awards Bronze Festival Award
Nominated for Best Theatre Production at Buxton Festival Fringe 2026
“Helen and Alexander Millington are skilled actors…There is probably nothing else like this on at the Fringe – go and see it.” Buxton Fringe Reviews
THE OTHER ROOM [HERE FOR] at The Lion & Unicorn Theatre 20 - 24 October
Grace’s husband, Chris, is dying. One day her carefully constructed world is disrupted when Themba, a professional end-of-life carer, secretly hired by Chris, arrives to help. Initially resistant, Grace gradually forms an unexpected and complicated bond with Themba. With plenty of humour alongside the heartbreak, The Other Room explores what happens when death takes over the house, but life, inconveniently, keeps getting in the way.
LADYBIRDS PRODUCTIONS (PRODUCING COMPANY)
Reviews for Previous work (Kindling at The Park Theatre)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "A poignant tale" London Theatre Reviews
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Endlessly funny, genuinely funny" All That Dazzles
BIG LOVE [HERE FOR] written and directed by David Brady at Lion and Unicorn Theatre, Kentish Town 27 October - 7 November
“The problem with making a big entrance is that there’s always someone left to clear it up later.”
He believes in love.
Big songs. Big feelings. Big entrances. The kind of love that comes with a key change, a confetti cannon and absolutely no sense of self-awareness.
He believes love is probably somewhere else. Somewhere warmer. Somewhere louder. Somewhere with better lighting.
Edith Piaf. Strobe lights. Strangers. Perfect nights. Bad decisions. The one that got away. The one that might still be out there.
He believes in loving everyone to bits and throwing it all in the air for the world to see.
Most of all, he believes in looking the truth right in the eye and running away.
Part party, part confession, part love letter to all of life’s best bits, Big Love is a funny, generous and quietly devastating new piece of fringe theatre about chasing extraordinary moments, the people we love to bits, and finally having to answer a call that won’t go away. And that’s a lot of love to cram into one little theatre in Kentish Town.
Sneak peek at November shows ...
VOILA! PANLINGUAL THEATRE FESTIVAL AT MULTIPLE VENUES
"we don't see language(s) laid out side by side as fixed, separate entities, any more than we see ‘cultures’ as ‘things’; static and cut off from each other.
Voila! Theatre Festival is living proof that culture is alive and always moving."
Festival Director, Dave Wybrow
Connecting Border-Busting Theatre to Citizens of Everywhere, Voila! theatre festival runs 2 - 22 November 2026 at eight London venues. With 101 shows and event, 60 languages and 450 artists the festival, curated by The Cockpit (theatre in Marylebone), has become an essential showcase and celebration of international theatre.
Host venues include four pub theatres, Barons Court Theatre, Canal Cafe Theatre, Etcetera Theatre and Upstairs at the Gatehouse.
Canal Cafe Theatre:
- BLONDIE BLUE EYES by Romeo Lau on 4, 9, and 10 November. Against the backdrop of an upbeat comedy, BLONDIE BLUE EYES is a tragedy rooted in the horror of breaking down one’s sense of self to fit a social norm.
Barons Court:
- THE HABIT OF GETTING USED TO IT by Nessuno Collective (Argentina/Chile/Spain) 7 & 8 Nov. Through a multidisciplinary narrative, the show builds a performance as a collage of everyday life. Receiver of the inaugural Instituto Cervantes x Voila! Grant, supporting Hispanic artists to present their work at Voila!.
- LAMENT OF THE WANDERING HEAD by Taiwan-based Sun Son Theatre 12 - 14 Nov. It transforms a Southeast Asian myth — the flying human head — into an exploration of diaspora, displacement, and identity. Weaving live music, physical movement, and poetic language across Penang Hokkien and Mandarin.
Etcetera in Camden:
- Italian company Batisfera’s critically acclaimed show THE GUMMY BEARS' GREAT WAR -18 - 22 Nov. An object theatre show that takes place on a table, with real candies, small lights and few spectators; an existential tragicomedy about our search for meaning. Coming to Voila! Theatre Festival following a successful Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2025, receiving four-star reviews from The Stage and The Telegraph.
Upstairs at the Gatehouse in Highgate:
- Natasha Markou (London Production Studios) returns to Voila! 17 & 18 Nov. Theatre Festival following a sell-out run at Voila 2025 with her previous work. Her new show BREWTOPIA is an intimate two-hander that fuses absurdist tradition with emotional realism to ask: what does it really mean to help someone?
- BASILITRIX by Out of This Crow Productions Ltd 11 - 15 Nov. A Polish family folk rock musical about sisterhood, courage, curiosity, and the search for truth.
FREUD'S LAST SESSION at Tabard Theatre 11 - 28 November
By Mark St. Germain, suggested by The Question of God by Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, Jr.
As Britain stands on the brink of war, Sigmund Freud receives an unexpected visitor: a young Oxford academic named C.S. Lewis.
Over the course of a single afternoon, two of the twentieth century's greatest minds engage in a gripping battle of ideas. As air-raid sirens sound across London, Freud and Lewis debate love, faith, sex, suffering, the existence of God and the meaning of life itself.
Written by Mark St. Germain and inspired by The Question of God by Dr Armand M. Nicholi Jr., this internationally acclaimed drama combines intellectual fireworks with humour, humanity and profound emotional insight.
Psst ... more shows being added each week
