Lyn Gardner's Weekly Picks
Published on 3 August 2026
Returning to the West End and taking up residence at the Adelphi is a spot of delicious summer silliness in The Comedy About Spies. Coming from the team behind The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong, it’s a story of spooks and spies set in 1960s London. A West End hotel is the scene for a deliciously preposterous story about teams of CIA and KGB spies both hunting for a secret weapon stolen by a rogue British agent. It is a familiar Mischief Theatre formula in which what can go wrong will go wrong delivered with real glee and skill. It may come as no surprise to those who have seen previous shows, but this is an evening which has ways of making you laugh without resorting to thumbscrews.
There are loads of great shows in the West End this summer to keep the kids entertained, but a sure-fire hit is likely to be Dog Man The Musical at the South Bank. Dav Pilkey’s canine crime fighter series is a huge hit with primary-age children and has sold 70 million copies worldwide, combining the virtues of being easy to read and visually rich. So, a musical version was inevitable, and here it is bringing these engaging canine capers to the stage in a show already seen in the USA.
Again, with the children on holiday, it’s also a good time to be reminded that Hercules has only a month left of its run at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey may be the cinematic hit of the summer, but this staging of the 1997 Disney movie Hercules turns Greek mythology into a family-friendly extravaganza. It’s a lavish spectacle which is stoked with real energy and witty lines and is loads of fun.
The musical version of David Nicholls’ One Day premiered at the Lyceum in Edinburgh earlier this year, not surprisingly given that it is in Edinburgh that the bitter-sweet love story of posh boy Dex (Jamie Muscato) and working-class Emma (Sharon Rose) begins. The show was kept under wraps from the prying eyes of critics during that original run, suggesting it was always West End-bound, and sure enough it now arrives at the Garrick. But the omens are good with writer David Greig and director Max Webster on board, and this musical offering is likely to offer something very different from other adaptations including the movie and more recent Netflix series.
By Lyn Gardner
Lyn Gardner is an acclaimed theatre journalist and former critic with decades of experience covering British theatre, from off-West End and fringe theatre to major West End productions.