Just for One Day

Shaftesbury Theatre
210 Shaftesbury Ave, London WC2H 8DP

The chronicles of rock’s golden age — there’s no other way to put it — first took the stage at the Old Vic, and have now moved to the Shaftesbury Theatre.
From the very start, the audience sings along to the iconic hits, laughs at the sharply drawn Margaret Thatcher, claps mid-scene — they’re captivated as if it were a children’s Christmas show, not an adult musical. And it makes sense: Just for One Day takes viewers back forty years, when everyone was young — maybe even still in primary school.

Craig Els plays Bob Geldof, and his performance is a striking, poignant choice. This isn’t a shaggy-haired young idealist, but a weary, somber man who knows full well he can’t fix the world. This portrayal shifts the tone from festive to dramatic, but in doing so, it invites us to look at the present day with more care and compassion.

Rumor has it Geldof himself loves the show — and you might just spot him in the audience, watching a version of himself on stage.

Mrs. Warren’s Profession

Garrick Theatre
2 Charing Cross Rd, London WC2H 0HH

Bernard Shaw’s late 19th-century play was banned for nearly a decade — after all, it deals with brothels, prostitutes, and a main character, Mrs. Warren, who runs a chain of them. Patriarchal society couldn’t stomach this — despite shamelessly using such establishments.

Mrs. Warren uses her earnings to send her daughter to the best schools, providing her with a brilliant education — until the dramatic twist: young Vivie discovers the true nature of her mother’s business.

In Dominic Cooke’s new production, mother and daughter are played by real-life mother and daughter: the magnificent Imelda Staunton, whose talent needs no adjectives, and Bessie Carter — sharp, vivid, full of energy and charisma.

It’s their first time acting together, adding an extra layer of interest and complexity to the performance. Can the actors separate the personal from the professional?

The Deep Blue Sea

Theatre Royal Haymarket
Haymarket, London SW1Y 4HT

Tamsin Greig is a magnetically compelling actress. Audiences recently saw her in Backstroke at Donmar Warehouse — and now she steps into the role of the tormented Hester Collyer, a woman who dives out of a successful marriage and into a love affair with a young pilot, Freddie Page (Hadley Fraser).
She’s lost her wealth, her husband, her family, and society’s respect — but has she found love? Even she’s afraid to answer.

Directed by Lindsay Posner, this production enjoyed success in Bath and now arrives at Theatre Royal Haymarket. Terence Rattigan’s early-1950s play is partly about midlife crisis — which can overwhelm anyone from the perfect family man to the quiet housewife — but it’s also a wrenching story of choices, where every path leads to loss.
Back then, after WWII, the audience read it one way — but today, it’s a drama of a grown woman’s internal struggle.

Greig plays Hester with brutal honesty — no flirtation, no sugarcoating. It’s pain, despair, and no hope. The ending is open: we don’t know where Hester goes, but perhaps, between the two men, she’ll choose a third, most tragic path.

Finbar Lynch plays Hester’s neighbor in their boarding house — a character who becomes a sort of therapist, a mirror, or perhaps even a god — but one who doesn’t judge, only grieves.

This show must be seen for its astounding performances — and, like all of Posner’s work, it’s built with the meticulous care of true psychological theatre.

Stiletto

Charing Cross Theatre
The Arches, Villiers St, London WC2N 6NL

This new musical by the celebrated Matthew Wilder and Tim Luscombe has been running at the tiny Charing Cross Theatre since late March, and it’s been a hit with both audiences and critics.

No wonder — an incredible love story set in 18th-century Venice, full of tragedy and hope, with costumes and sets executed with astonishing detail.

Young opera stars preserved their high, delicate voices through the barbaric act of castration — the main character, Marco (Jack Chambers), is one such singer, blessed with a unique voice. He must overcome danger and temptation for the love of young and beautiful Gioia (Jule Hutchinson), the daughter of an African slave.

They are bound by their love of music and their status as societal outsiders — but fate and their enemies have many trials in store.
This is an intensely emotional production — the lights, the music, the facial expressions, the voices, the feelings — everything turned up to the max, as if someone cranked the brightness of an old TV to 200%. But what else would you expect? The Venetian Carnival is in full swing!

Stereophonic

Duke of York’s Theatre
St Martin’s Ln, London WC2N 4BG

STEREOPHONIC isn’t exactly a biopic — but it’s close. The story behind the play is inspired by the creation of Rumours, the iconic album by Fleetwood Mac.
On stage, it’s 1976: California, a music studio, and a rock band trying to hold it all together long enough to record just one track. Their only salvation — work and music.

Inspired by the true story of Rumours, it plays out more like a Shakespearean tragedy than an album recording. Christine and John McVie were going through a painful divorce but still working together; Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks kept breaking up and reconciling. Add alcohol and drugs to the mix, and you get a volatile, combustible mess — dragging their personal chaos from studio to studio, but producing one of the most successful albums of the 20th century.
They barely spoke to each other — but the music they created became timeless.

The show runs for 3 hours and 10 minutes — and for every minute, we watch the mess from which beauty grows, without shame. Music for the show was written by Will Butler, formerly of Arcade Fire — it’s raw, vibrant, and tragic.After a smash-hit run on Broadway, Stereophonic earned a whopping 13 Tony nominations last year. In short: an absolute must-see.