For the final part of our Theatre to See in 2025 we have none other than Shakespeare. How could you miss out old William Shakespeare after all?
409 years after his death, he proves to be stubbornly relevant today – or at least the producers of this selection of new Shakespeare productions believe he has something to say about our modern times, or maybe that his words can be used to express something that the playwright couldn’t have fathomed in ye oldie days.
I’m not complaining – when Shakespeare is done well it creates unparalleled theatre. Andrew Scott’s performance as Hamlet in Richard Icke’s production at the Almeida in 2017 was one of those near-transcendent experiences where four hours with the young prince was not nearly enough. There is a flipside to that – and we could paraphrase Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – that when Shakespeare is bad it is horrid.
With that in mind, here are six Shakespeare productions to look out for in 2025.
Theatre to see in 2025 – Part 5: Shakespeare
Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
This is the Shakespeare production I’m most excited for this year. So what if I’ve seen six other Hamlets (not counting digital theatre or filmed adaptations), I’ll take another, thanks. One of the rising stars of theatre, Luke Thallon has been fantastic in practically everything I’ve seen him in over the past few years from Camp Siegfried and Present Laughter at the Old Vic to Patriots and Cold War at the Almeida. It’s not star casting as such but it could be a star-making role for Thallon.
And, not only that, the casting beyond the lead role is phoenomonal in Rupert Goold’s production with Jared Harris, Anton Lesser, Elliot Levey and Nancy Carroll all featuring. It’s one that’s not to be missed.
Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon from 8 February to 29 March
Cymbeline at the Sam Wanamaker Theatre at the Globe Theatre, London
One of Shakespeare’s lesser-performed plays, Cymbeline returns to the Globe Theatre for the first time in a decade, playing in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. It’s always a wonderful experience to take in a play in the atmospheric candlelit space whether the production is good or not.
Jennifer Tang directs the story of deceit, pursuit and seduction in which a secret marriage changes the course of two kingdoms in a production that explores nature, nurture and the role of female leadership in a man’s world while Martina Laird takes on the gender-swapped role of Cymbeline.
Cymbeline is at the Sam Wanamaker Theatre at the Globe Theatre, London from 10 January to 20 April 2025 – Save 40% on tickets for Cymbeline – book today here
Romeo and Juliet at the Bristol Old Vic, The Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, and Hackney Empire, London
Shakespeare wrote much of his work in iambic pentameter and Corey Campbell’s production uses that rhythm to create a rap version of the play using the original text with new elements of rap, soul and R&B.
It’s an intriguing offering – one that I think will work well in practice. The intention to make Shakespeare accessible to new audiences is obvious (and welcomed). As a bonus, the production is set to tour with dates in Bristol, Coventry and London
Romeo and Juliet at the Bristol Old Vic, The Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, and Hackney Empire, London.
Estelle: To be the hands of this drama where the quest for the freedom to act and to love is played out seems to me an exciting artistic challenge: Manipulating the Manékine, is to undertake a beautiful paradox for a puppeteer in becoming the hands of the “handless”.
Richard II at the Bridge Theatre, London
From our Stars on Stage feature:
Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey’s takes on Shakespeare in the gap between the releases of Wicked and its sequel Wicked: For Good where the actor plays Fiyero. Richard II marks a welcome return of new productions at the Bridge Theatre with the theatre having been occupied by Guys and Dolls for the past two years.
Multiple extensions for the musical meant that shows presumably planned for the theatre ended up playing in other locations, such as Giant with John Lithgow which opened at the Royal Court instead.
Nicholas Hytner directs Bailey having also directed Giant and every production at the Bridge since theatres reopened after the first lockdown. Well, he did found theatre. It’s Bailey’s first appearance onstage since Cock opposite Taron Egerton in 2022.
The last major production of Richard II in London was the relatively minor take by Joe Hill-Gibbins’ at the Almeida in 2018 featuring Simon Russell Beale as the titular king in a production so disappointing we can only hope that Russell Beale gets another go at the role – his great potential wasted in Hill-Gibbins’ odd production which felt more like a first rehearsal of an experimental take than a full production.
The last good production was David Tennent’s Christ-like Richard under Gregory Doran for the RSC five years earlier. Where might Bailey’s turn to deliver the lines “let us sit upon the ground and tell sad tales of the death of kings” land between those two parallels?
Richard II is at the Bridge Theatre, London from 10 February to 10 May 2025
Hamlet Hail to the Thief at Aviva Studios, Manchester and Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
From our Future (Hit) Musicals feature:
This is a musical? Well, I don’t know. At the very least it’s a play with songs, if you care about distinctions, but we don’t know to what extent Radiohead and The Smile frontman Thom Yorke and directors Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones have embedded the songs from Radiohead’s 2003 album Hail to the Thief about the election of George W. Bush and the War on Terror into Shakespeare’s play.
They’ve certainly shifted the focus with the play promising a ‘frenetic distillation of Shakespeare’s masterpiece [where] Elsinore has become a surveillance state’ with a focus on ‘Hamlet and Ophelia’s awakening to the lies and corruption revealed by ghosts and music.’
Despite being one of their least-celebrated albums, I think Hail to the Thief will suit the mood of Hamlet – but I’m a bit of a Radiohead fan having seen them live more than a few times, so I may be biased.
Hamlet Hail to the Thief is at Aviva Studios, Manchester from 27 April to 18 May 2025, then at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon from 4 to 28 June 2025
Much Ado About Nothing at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London
From our Stars on Stage feature:
OK, where to start? There’s been a considerable cooling of the Jamie Lloyd hype recently. After a string of productions with a star name (Tom Holland, Sigourney Weaver, James McEvoy, Emilia Clarke, Paapa Essiedu, Taylor Russell, Nicole Scherzinger) whispering into microphones on minimalistic stages wearing monochrome sweatpants, the shtick is wearing thin, landing Lloyd’s current production, The Tempest featuring Sigourney Weaver, with a string of poor reviews from critics after a swathe of ambivalent reviews for his previous outing with the Tom Holland-fronted media circus that was Romeo and Juliet.
Can Lloyd turn the ship around with Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell as the leads in Much Ado About Nothing or will it, like Antonio’s ship in The Tempest, find itself ground upon the rocks at Theatre Royal Drury Lane The revival of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal with Hiddleston has been my favourite of the ten or so Lloyd productions I’ve seen by a considerable distance, so I have my fingers crossed.
Much Ado About Nothing is at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London from 10 February to 5 April 2025
