The 10 best new London theatre openings in June 2025
If you want to look for unifying trend in June 2025 London theatre, then it's very much about classic shows being brought back: last year's Fiddler on the Roof, 2019's A Midsummer Night's Dream, 2011's London Road and most remarkably still, a sort of (it's complicated) reprise for the original 2000 production of Sarah Kane's posthumous masterpiece 4.48 Psychosis. On the other hand, there's more to the month than old stuff and for many the real treat will be a first chance to see a couple of big shiny American shows: David Adjmi's wildly acclaimed Fleetwood Mac (sort of) drama Stereophonic, and the latest massive Disney musical Hercules, which makes its English language premiere at Theatre Royal Drury Lane this month.
The best London theatre openings in June 2025
1. Stereophonic
US playwright David Adjmi's drama – with songs by erstwhile Arcade Fire man Will Butler – comes to the West End as the most Tony-nominated play of all time. It's still pretty bold of producer Sonia Friedman to plonk a three-hour play with no famous people in it directly into the West End, although the subject matter should serve as enticement: Stereophonic is a fictionalised account of the legendarily fraught recording sessions for Fleetwood Mac's landmark album Rumours.
Duke of York's Theatre, now until Sep 20. Buy tickets here.
2. 4.48 Psychosis
To state this straight away, 4.48 Psychosis is totally sold out already: the only day you're getting in is on a Monday when all 90 tickets to the Royal Court's tiny Upstairs space go on sale on the day itself. Sarah Kane's final play, 4.48 Psychosis is a sort of generically unclassifiable freeform poem – which some have referred to as a 'suicide note' – that was originally staged at the Royal Court a couple of years after her death. This unusual production reunites the entire original team behind James Macdonald's production, including a cast that includes current RSC boss Daniel Evans. It's not as simple as restaging the original show: the idea seems to be to come up with a new production that saves the original from the darkness.
Royal Court Theatre, Jun 12-Jul 5.
3. London Road
Although it actually dates back to the Nicholas Hytner era, Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork's London Road was clearly the best thing just departed NT boss Rufus Norris directed for the theatre. So it was great that he brought the visionary verbatim musical about an Ipswich community's reaction to the Suffolk Strangler killings back for his final season. But there won't be much coverage this time, due to the media blackout around Steven Wright's latest trial causing the NT to decide to pull press night. Which seems a bit excessive (Wright isn't even a character in it) but hey ho – it's one of the most remarkable shows of our time and you really should see it.
National Theatre, Olivier, Jun 6-21. Buy tickets here.
4. A Midsummer Night's Dream
In a very big month for returning shows, here comes a welcome second crack at Nicholas Hytner's sublime 2019 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. There is some fun genderfluid stuff at work here, with many of the lines for fairy king and queen Oberon and Titania swapped over. But really it's about bagging the standing tickets and getting swept up in a joyous production that ends up as full-on dance party. JJ Feild and Susannah Fielding lead the cast.
Bridge Theatre, May 31-Aug 23. Buy tickets here.
5. Hercules
If the recent live action screen version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves taught us anything, it's that even the biggest of Disney's old hits aren't necessarily suited to a 2025 makeover. Conversely, a big glossy musical version of 1997's Hercules makes perfect sense: the film wasn't a big hit for Disney but was well-regarded, is relatively contemporary, and a musical is a fine opportunity to bring it to a wider audience. In addition the Greek mythology setting is a great opportunity to go nuts with the special effects and means everyone kind of knows the story already.
Theatre Royal Drury Lane, booking Jun 6-Jan 10 2026. Buy tickets here.
6. Fiddler on the Roof
Jordan Fein's production of Bock & Stein's immortal musical set in the last days of the shtetl was a massive hit at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre last summer and subsequently won three awards at this year's Oliviers. Now it's back for an indoor stint at the Barbican and what a treat it'll be to have this excellent production back again. It perfectly mixes joy in the classic songs with a deft awareness of the unsettling undercurrents to the story.
Barbican Centre, now until Jul 19. Buy tickets here.
7. A Moon for the Misbegotten
The Almeida's in-house hard-hitter Rebecca Frecknall turns her sights on Eugene O'Neill for the first time, directing Michael Shannon and Ruth Wilson in O'Neill's sort of sequel to the monumental Long Day's Journey Into Night. US star Shannon is a particularly intriguing piece of casting because he played the role of the alcoholic James Tyrone Jr in a 2016 Broadway production of Long Day's Journey, making him possibly the first actor in history to have played James in both shows.
Almeida Theatre, Jun 18-Aug 16.
8. Intimate Apparel
Lynette Linton has directed phenomenal productions of Lynn Nottage plays for each of the previous two Donmar artistic directors, and now she makes her Timothy Sheader-era debut with a third. Where Sweat and Clyde's were UK premieres, this will be the first revival of the excellent Intimate Apparel, which will this time feature US star Samira Wiley as Easther, a Black seamstress in early twentieth century New York. She dreams of finding a man and saving up enough money to open her own Black beauty parlour – but that might be easier said than done.
Donmar Warehouse, Jun 20-Aug 9.
9. Showmanism
Hampstead Theatre has been on a mercurial course since its last artistic director Roxana Silbert quit in 2022 (after the theatre lost its Arts Council funding). Undoubtedly the highlight of the new era to date was lip sync performance artist Dickie Beau's deeply moving Re-Member Me, a light hearted tribute to Shakespeare's Hamlet that became ever more powerful as it unexpectedly changed shape. So what a treat to have him back with Showmanism, his attempt to trace a complete history of the stage, from Greek tragedy to nightclub queens. As with its predecessor, expect it to start funny and get intense.
Hampstead Theatre, Jun 18-Jul 12. Buy tickets here.
10. North By Northwest
North Londoners can enjoy a quick London stop for the latest from British theatre's whimsical genius Emma Rice, as her adaptation of Hitchcock's North By Northwest calls in at Ally Pally for a couple of weeks. Yes, it seems fairly nuts to adapt his kinetic spy thriller about a man who finds himself thrust into a vast, country-spanning conspiracy after a mix up at a restaurant. But you could say that about almost everything Rice has ever adapted. Alexandra Palace Theatre, Jun 11-22.
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