Last updated: 07/08/2024 at 11.00am
London theatre often commands big name actors - so we’ve decided to take a look at some of the best stars on stage in the last few years.
Going to the theatre is a completely different experience than watching your favourite actor on screen, and with so many amazing productions on offer in London, A-listers often make an appearance.
From Shakespeare plays to more contemporary productions, London has a plethora of choice when it comes to the West End.
In this rundown, we’ll take a look at some of London’s hottest performances from Hollywood legends, including Sigourney Weaver, Tom Hiddleston and more.
We'll also cover shows that you can book to see later on in 2024 and into 2025, such as The Tempest and Much Ado About Nothing at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
We'll make sure to discuss how you can get VIP seats to see stars on the stage with some of the best seats in the house, plus so many more extras that will make watching a show unforgettable.
Sigourney Weaver in The Tempest
Hollywood royalty Sigourney Weaver, best known for her starring role in the Alien franchise, will be heading to London’s West End to head up The Tempest from 7th December 2024 until 1st February 2025.
The star, who has been nominated for an Oscar three times, will play the wizard Prospero for eight weeks in Shakespeare’s classic tragicomedy The Tempest at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
The classic play, thought to be one of the last that Shakespeare wrote, is set on a remote island as Prospero uses his magic powers to cause a shipwreck. It explores themes of magic, family betrayal and revenge.
This will be a West End debut for Weaver, and the play is part of a series of Shakespeare plays put on at the theatre by director Jamie Lloyd.
Of the star’s upcoming appearance, Lloyd told Deadline: “Sigourney knows her Shakespeare, she knows theatre, and I could not be more excited that she has agreed to play this role."
Tickets are on sale now.
Tom Hiddleston in Much Ado About Nothing
Also showing at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane from 10th February until 5th April 2025, Tom Hiddleston will play Benedick in the Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing.
Starring opposite Hiddleston is Hayley Atwell, who will play Beatrice.
The play tells the tale of the romance and ensuing scandal between Hero and her beau, Claudio, but it’s actually the acerbic wit and banter that goes on between Benedick and Beatrice that steals the show.
Actor Hiddleston made a name for himself in The Night Manager, as well as Thor and Avengers Assemble. In 2019, he starred in Betrayal at the Harold Pinter Theatre, which was also directed by Jamie Lloyd.
Tom Hiddleston said, “I could not be more thrilled to have been given the opportunity to collaborate with [Jamie Llloyd]... this time on one of Shakespeare’s most warm-hearted and joyful plays: Much Ado About Nothing. It’s an honour to have been invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber to bring Shakespeare back to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane… and to be working with the great Hayley Atwell for the first time.”
Tom Holland in Romeo & Juliet
The ultimate Shakespearian tragedy, Romeo & Juliet has just finished at run starring Spider-Man star Tom Holland.
Holland plays Romeo, whilst Francesca Amewudah-Rivers plays his ill-fated lover, Juliet, in the tale of the "star cross'd lovers". Their romance is doomed from the beginning due to a fierce rivalry between their two families.
The play is another produced by the Jamie Lloyd Company, and the BBC reports that it has "wowed" the crowds.
Time Out, which gave the play five stars, describes the show as "brilliantly unsettling" and says it is "staged like a particularly stylish radio play".
Daniel Radcliffe in Equus
Sometimes a play comes along that gives an actor the chance to totally redefine their career. For Daniel Radcliffe, his post-Harry Potter turn in Equus was just that.
Radcliffe’s run in Equus took place in 2007 across both the West End and Broadway.
In the play, Radcliffe plays 17-year-old Alan, a boy who has blinded six horses with a metal spike, and the psychiatrist who must work out why exactly he’s committed such a horrible crime.
Controversial at the time because Radcliffe appears fully nude on the stage, fresh from Harry Potter, the actor faced a huge raft of speculation about whether he could really act - but Equus, which received rave reviews, proved that he could.
Speaking to Playbill, Radcliffe revealed, "It wasn't so much that I had the ambition to do theatre. I wanted to do Equus, and the medium for Equus was theatre. If I'd gone off and done another fantasy film, people would have said, 'Oh, he's not stretching himself.'”
Kim Cattrall in Whose Life is it Anyway
Back in 2012, the iconic Sex and the City star, known best for her portrayal of comedy character Samantha Jones, took to the London stage.
She played the bed bound Claire Harrison in Brian Clark’s play, Whose Life is it Anyway, in a move that allowed Cattrall to prove herself as a serious actress to the world.
Lying in a hospital bed for the duration of the play, Cattrall’s character Claire has been paralysed after a road accident and is unable to move from the neck down. She wears a hospital gown for the whole play.
The play, a darkly comedic tale of a woman missing out on the life that she inhabited prior to her accident, received good reviews from critics and allowed Cattrall to move into serious acting territory.
Sarah Snook in The Picture of Dorian Grey
Succession star Sarah Snook made it big playing Shiv Roy in the much-lauded dark family comedy, critically acclaimed as one of the best TV shows of all time. Sadly, Succession came to an end in 2023.
But Aussie actress Snook wasn’t going to rest on her laurels, and instead of taking a break, she immediately got her teeth into a new solo play - the West End production of The Picture of Dorian Grey.
In the stage adaptation of the Oscar Wilde classic, Snook played 26 different characters.
Telling the story of Dorian Grey, a man who sells his soul in a Faustian bargain, so that he will remain young forever, while a picture painted of him ages instead.
Snook won an Olivier Award for her role in the play.
How can I see London theatre with VIP seats?
Seat Unique offers VIP and hospitality tickets to West End theatre shows so that you can make your viewing experience even more special.
VIP tickets for The Tempest are on sale now.
Make sure to sign up so that you’ll be among the first to know when VIP seats for Much Ado About Nothing are released.
Buy The Tempest VIP tickets Register your interest in Much Ado About Nothing VIP tickets
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