London theatre- which plays to see

I'm going to see Brecht's 'The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui' at the RSC theatre in Stratford in May.

We are planning to see 1536 and Mother Courage and Her Children in London in May.

We are booked to see Operation Mincemeat in May.

Not knowing what you have seen, I have seen and recommend the following shows that are playing in London now.

Phantom (must see at least once in your lifetime.)

Hamilton (seen twice, not in London) (not sure about actors with British accents trying to act like Americans, or do they do American accents? If someone can fill us in.)

Wicked ( better than the movie- because it's live theatre)

Lion King (a must see if you are Musical theatre afficianado)

Les Miserable (also a theatre must see, if you are a musical theatre nerd)

Book of Mormon (funny)

Moulin Rouge (jukebox musical)

harry potter (best if you are a fan)

Mamma Mia (great music- Abba)

Back to the future (lightweight, fun, if you have seen the movie)

hadestown (though provoking, no violence)

Into the woods (you have to like Sondheim.)

Kinky boots (drag queen saves the factory)

The play that goes wrong (slapstick comedy- hilarious)

Gary Oldman is playing in Krapp’s Last Tape in May.

One I am quite excited about (but have not seen yet, as it's not yet out) is Les Liaisons Dangereuses with Aidan Turner and Lesley Manville. It's on at the National Theatre thru early June and booking up fast: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/les-liaisons-dangereuses/

To answer the question about Hamilton, yes, they do American accents in the production!

Shadowlands with Hugh Bonneville is at the Aldwych until early May.

Cat, I would love to see Les Liasons Dangereuse with Lesley Manville. And I just realized that Monica Barbaro is in it as well. I loved her in A Complete Unknown as Joan Baez, and she has the most beautiful voice (not that she'll need it in this production, just saying...) 😊

not sure about actors with British accents trying to act like Americans, or do they do American accents

Ha ha ha! Derek, I had to laugh at that. That's a skill that most actors have: the ability to do accents from other countries ( With the exception of Kevin Costner, who could not for the life of him get a British accent down in Robin Hood).

But there are also quite a few American actors that will portray Brits, and Brits that portray Americans. If you want to see some good examples, watch Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown, which takes place in Pittsburgh. Or Rufus Sewell, who is a Brit playing an American but living in London. That one just cracks me up, but you'd never know he wasn't American unless you knew.

Oh, Laura, I have a ticket to that one and am excited.

I'd don't know if I'd call them thought provoking, but I recommend Mama Mia, The Play that Goes Wrong, and The Book of Mormon. They were all excellent!

Mama Mia was one of the best musicals I've seen. The Play that Goes Wrong was very funny, and The Book of Mormon took funny to the next level. A bit raunchy but my daughter and I couldn't stop laughing.

At opposite ends of the spectrum, Woman in Black and Paddington the Musical.

Mormon takes raunchy to infinity and beyond, definitely not a family friendly evening of theater. And this from someone with an awesome sense of humor (just ask anyone!).

Mincemeat has become a phenomenon, big feature article recently in the NYT Sunday magazine. The British cast in NYC had to extend their run to accommodate all the ticket requests, before it flips over to American actors.

Mormon takes raunchy to infinity and beyond, definitely not a family friendly evening of theater.

Let me demur on this. Although there is some "blue" humor, I found Book of Mormon to be very sweet-natured in its depiction of religious faith writ large and Mormon beliefs specifically. Much like the movie Dogma, there's a lot to piece out about the value of religious faith to us all, which can lead to valuable family discussions. Plus it's funny as all get-out.

Just another perspective.

A somewhat related recommendation: try to find the time for the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre tour! It’s only an hour or so, but was totally engaging and really interesting to learn about the history and culture of theatregoing in Shakespeare’s time. We booked as a time filler but it ended up being a highlight of the trip!

Hamilton (seen twice, not in London) (not sure about actors with
British accents trying to act like Americans, or do they do American
accents? If someone can fill us in.)

I have not seen, nor do i have any interest in seeing Hamilton. However:

1. A very many well-trained British actors do an incredible job of delivering "American accents." Think Damien Lewis in Band of Brothers for just one example.

2. During the U.S. revolution, the patriots had very recently been British subjects. I'll guess people on both sides spoke English similarly (except for the French and German combatants that is).

Yes, I am interested, too. Seeking spring theater that has not yet been in NYC. Can be play or musical…open.

I’d peruse the WhatsOnStage and Official London Theatre websites.

Then check:
https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/national-theatre-online/

I’d also see what scheduled at the Richmond Theatre during those months.
https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/richmond-theatre/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gmb

There are also smaller theatres throughout London neighborhoods to research.
https://www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk/
https://www.arcolatheatre.com/
https://www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk/
https://uniontheatre.biz/whats-on/

I can second all the recommendations for Hadestown on the West End! A phenomenal experience, in my opinion.

I haven't seen Hamilton on the West End, but I have seen a touring production of it elsewhere in the UK and my memory is that the actors mostly just used their own accents. I think this is quite common in UK theatre - there seems to be a general attitude of "the audience will be able to suspend their disbelief" around accents, which I personally find far preferable to everyone having to fake an accent and then hope that it's believable and non-distracting. When I saw Hadestown the actor playing Orpheus - a wonderful performer - used his own, native Scottish accent (and everyone else in the play just used their own accents too), and as a Scottish person it was wonderful to hear.

Hamilton (seen twice, not in London) (not sure about actors with
British accents trying to act like Americans, or do they do American
accents? If someone can fill us in.)

Most trained singers don’t have a distinguishable accent when they sing in English. If you listen to Elton John singing, would you know he is British? Singers tend to use a neutral accent with open vowels.

I’ve seen Hamilton in both London and DC. In both cases, King George sang with an exaggerated accent but the other singers had neutral accents.

I thought Hamilton was outstanding but the OP specifically asked about plays rather than musicals.

Just saw Operation Mincemeat on Broadway with originally cast. Loved it. Watched the Netflix movie about Operation Mincemeat. I think I might have missed some of the nuances without knowing more about the background.

Elton John is actually affecting an American accent when he sings. What you consider neutral is the typical American vowel sounds which have become the standard way of singing for a lot of pop and rock artists.

If you listen to a very English production like Matilda (off the top of my head) you’ll hear quite different diction. An example of a pop artist using an English rather than American accent would be Lily Allen.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Right now we are thinking of Hadestown and one other, not sure what yet.
We would like to go back to the Old Globe but it will be Midsummer’s Night’s Dream which is the same play we saw in 2023 when we were there before and we want to see a different play.

Late to this conversation but I loved Hadestown. I knew nothing about it before going, which made it all the better actually. I also saw Les Mis which is a theatre rite of passage, but also very, very long.

This past week we saw Shadowlands and Paddington – both were excellent and highly recommended.

We have tickets for The Producers and Marie and Rosetta (about Sister Rosetta Tharpe) in a few weeks. Both look great!

I have found that I can sometimes see shows in London that are sold out and/or incredibly expensive in the US. I saw Hamilton in February 2020 when the only tickets I could get in DC were more than $500 apiece. I’m going to London at the end of April and have tickets for Oh, Mary!, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and a Midsummer Nights Dream. I don’t usually try for half price tickets when there are specific shows that I want to see.

I saw Arthur Miller's All My Sons last month and it would certainly fit your "thought provoking" requirement.