After the maelstrom of celebrity-led openings that was October, November is a very low-key month for London theatre, with a quiet first couple of weeks picking up as they give way to the beginnings of the Christmas season and the first pantos of the year. Which is no problem – there are still dozens of openings, and the slight decrease in massive shows means we can recommend a few of the month’s quirkier offerings. 1.
The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde’s most famous play has gone untouched by London’s major subsidised theatres for decades – not because The Importance of Being Earnest is viewed as a terrible play, but because it looms so large over British culture that the very act of staging it feels like a cliche. And, of course, there’s inevitably a new commercial production every few years. But suddenly, this feels right: with current Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatawa leading the cast, crack support from the likes of Sharon D Clarke as the formidable Lady Bracknell, innovative director Max Webster at the helm and a retina-searingly pink, ultra-knowing aesthetic in the promo pictures, the NT’s big Christmas revival just looks massively fun and like it’ll find a fresh angle on Wilde’s society romp.
National Theatre, Nov 21-Jan 25 2025. 2. The Devil Wears Prada An Elton John-penned musical adaptation of the acerbic millennial fashion mag comedy sounds like a dream come true.
In fact the first incarnation of The Devil Wears Prada had a rocky time of it �.
