BEST CHRISTMAS THEATRE SHOWS
The top pantomimes, all-star variety shows, musicals and festive theatre of 2024
Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, we are presenting our annual guide to the best Christmas theatre shows in or near London… OH YES WE ARE.
It’s not Christmas until festive drag queens are wheeled out to make jokes about your Aunt Fanny and cockatoos.
And we’ve got all the sequins, tinsel-covered jazz hands and dancing elves to see you through to 2025.
So point your eyes here and then take them there.
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Robin Hood at The London Palladium
This is the ultimate panto, on steroids. Famed for special effects like the giant beanstalk, which caused jaws (including our own) to drop as it grew through the audience to the ceiling. This year, Julian Clary returns for its ninth season to steal the show with smut and sequins as Robin Hood, alongside Jane McDonald as Maid Marion. This brilliantly camp and extra production sees the return of Palladium panto favourites, including Paul Zerdin, Nigel Havers Charlie Stemp and Rob Madge, with insane sets, special effects and costumes.
Robin Hood, London Palladium, 8 Argyll St, London W1F 7TF. 7 December - 12 January. Tickets from £39.50
A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic
The Ebeneezer baton has been passed onto John Simm for The Old Vic’s eight staging of A Christmas Carol.
The latest (and possible final) of the festive Dickens classic is being touted as one of the best yet, with the Life on Mars star masterfully switching from bah-humbugging old miser to fat goose-sharing Christmas cheer on two legs.
A Christmas Carol, The Old Vic, 103 The Cut, London SE1 8NB 23 November - 22 February. Tickets from £15 pp
The Snowman at Peacock Theatre
Spend an evening walking in the air in the 27th year of this magical ballet adaptation of the much-loved Christmas story. Hearts (and snowmen) will melt, with the moving choreography, enchanting set, fake snow, and famous soundtrack for big and little kids.
Peacock Theatre, Portugal St, London WC2A 2HT. 23 November-4 January 2025.
Hansel and Gretel at The Globe
Follow the trail of breadcrumbs all the way to Shakespeare's Globe this Christmas, for their beautiful production of Hansel and Gretel, returning for its second year.
Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage transforms the Globe Theatre into the gingerbread and lollipop festooned sphere of the world's most famous witch-conquering siblings, for this classic Brother Grimm fairytale.
In this timely retelling, a woodcutting dad and bread-making mum leave their children in the woods to protect them from their war-torn village, where they meet a strange old lady with a plan of her own.
The Globe, 21 New Globe Walk, London SE1 9DT. 29 November - 5 January
Sleeping Beauty at Broadway
Award-winning panto alchemist, Susie McKenna has waved her wand and transported Sleeping Beauty to Lewishtonia, in this modern retelling of the classic, packed with magic, comedy, sparkling routines and West End stars.
The show is fizzing with amazing production and effects and is one to get in the diaries this Christmas. You snooze, you lose.
Broadway Theatre, Rushey Green, Catford, London, SE6 4RU. 4-31 December
The Great Christmas Feast
The Lost Estate’s critically-acclaimed, immersive theatre and dining experience, A Christmas Carol: The Great Christmas Feast is back, following six sold out years in a row.
Guests will be transported to the home of Charles Dickens on Christmas Eve 1843, for three courses of extravagant Victorian feasts, while watching an immersive retelling of the ultimate festive ghost story, with cinematic live music and 5000sq ft of sets constructed by legendary immersive designers Darling & Edge (Gingerline, Secret Cinema, Crystal Maze).
The Lost Estate, 9 Beaumont Ave, London W14 9LP. 8 November 2024 - 12 January 2025. Tickets £135-£265pp
Children aged 7+ can enter the enchanting realm of Norse mythology this winter, in a magical and humorous adaptation about unlikely hero Odd, who is on a daring quest to save the mighty Gods - Odin, Loki, and Thor - who have been transformed into animals and stranded in the human world. With the Frost Giants threatening to envelop the world in an endless winter, this powerful new production tells a story about finding unexpected friends and courage.
Unicorn Theatre, 147 Tooley St, London SE1 2HZ. 19 November - 31 December. From £16.50
Jack and the Beanstalk at New Wimbledon
Alexandra Burke and Joe Pasquale star as ‘the villianous Mrs Blunderbore’ and Jack’s brother Simon, in New Wimbledon Theatre’s big production. Oh yes they do.
New Wimbledon Theatre, 93 The Broadway, London, SW19 1QG. 7 December - 5 January. Tickets from £13
Dick Whittington and his Cat
The National Treasure of Dames, Clive Rowe returns in Hackney Wick’s 25th panto, this time as Sarah the Cook.
The production follows Dick on his search for fame and fortune as Mayor of London and features all the crucial panto ingredients - slapstick, audience participation and smut - plus gorgeous costumes, a great cast - including regulars like comedian Kat B - and effects.
Hackney Empire, 291 Mare St, London E8 1EJ. 23 November - 5 January. Tickets from £10
Room on the Broom
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's classic children’s book is zooming onto the stage at the Lyric Theatre, in this Olivier Award-nominated adventure.
When a witch with a plait, a hat and her cat are flying through the skies, they pick up some fantastic creatures along the way. But while there was room on the broom for two, there certainly was not room for five. And things take a turn for the worse when a fiery dragon is thrown into the mix.
Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 7ES. 22 November - 5 January. Tickets from £12
The Fir Tree
How it Ended and artsdepot present a playful re-telling of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic Christmas tale, The Fir Tree. Fusing movement, live music, song, and puppetry, this meaningful and playful production explores mental health and environmental responsibility and made with neurodiverse audiences in mind.
Artsdepot, 5 Nether St, London N12 0GA. 12-31 December
A Nutcracker Christmas at The Castle
Rescue the Sugar Plum Fairy in Leeds Castle's reimagining of The Nutcracker festive classic, where toys come to life.
In this festive journey through beautifully festive rooms, discover a whimsical doll house, and a rocking horse which awaken the mischievous Mouse King.
The event culminates in a showdown between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King, with live performers on weekends and during the school holidays.
A Nutcracker Christmas, Leeds Castle, Broomfield, Maidstone ME17 1PL. 23 November to 5 January. Included with admission ticket, which also gives you access to Leeds Castle for a year.
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