Lyn Gardner's Weekly Picks
Published on 16 March 2026
You are spoilt for choice in the West End this week with new openings including everything from Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet) to contemporary drama (Inter Alia) to the return of the satirical puppet musical Avenue Q, which is back in the West End to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its London premiere.
The latter tells the story of Princeton, a graduate with a useless arts degree looking for a job and a purpose in life; it combines existential angst with filthy humour as Princeton finds a place to live in a low-rent New York neighbourhood, gets to know the locals and starts a relationship with kindergarten teacher Kate Monster, who wants to open her own Monstersori school.
It may well all look a wee bit more innocent than it did 20 years ago, but there is no doubting that this quirky adult puppet show featuring puppets having vigorous sex, singing paeans to internet porn and a witty little ditty called Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist was more than a cult hit and could well win new fans who weren’t born when it first premiered.
Meanwhile at the Harold Pinter, Robert Icke, a director who is never ever boring, nabs Stranger Things star Sadie Sink to play Juliet opposite Noah Jupe's Romeo in a revival which promises to be swift, insightful and sexy. Think Shakespeare’s dull? This should change your mind.
Rosamund Pike falls on the role of Jess-- a judge juggling professional and family life-- in Inter Alia at Wyndhams like a starving tiger espying raw meat. In this National Theatre transfer she is quite mesmerising as the woman whose world threatens to collapse when her teenage son is accused of rape. The play is written by Suzie Miller, who also gave us Prima Facie. It’s up for an Olivier.
For something a wee bit different, head West to the Lyric Hammersmith, where Jocelyn Bioh's Tony Award-winning comedy Jaja’s African Hair Braiding gets its UK premiere. Telling the story of a group of women who work in and frequent a Harlem hair braiding salon, it celebrates the women as it also highlights their experience of being outsiders beyond the walls of the salon.
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats is back this summer, and it should be purrfectly delightful in a brand-new staging at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre by artistic director Drew McOnie. He’s a choreographer and should be able to give this gathering of feline waifs and strays the physical dynamism it needs. At the very least it should banish the nightmarish memory of the terrible 2019 movie version. If McOnie cracks this musical based on TS Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, audiences should feel like mogs who have nabbed the cream of the summer offerings.
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.