Children's Shows Comedy Musicals Theatre ThisWeek In London

Christmas and New Year Tips Round Up 2023/24

By TW Editorial | Published on Friday 15 December 2023

Well, it’s time for the Christmas holiday, the only time of the year when the TW Weekly takes a break from the business of finding its way into your inbox.

And for that reason, this week’s edition is tipping stuff all the way from 19 Dec through until 8 Jan. So that’s quite a long time period and there are quite a few brand new suggestions for entertainment you can avail yourself of as you celebrate the festive season.

What I always think, at this time of year, though, is that there are lots and lots and lots of shows still running that we tipped over the last few weeks, many of which are festive and Christmas themed, so wouldn’t you like to be reminded of those?

And perhaps those of you trying desperately to avoid all that, looking for some entertainment of a more year-round kind… wouldn’t you like a heads up about those shows, in case they slipped your mind?

Anyway, that’s what we’re doing here, a tips round up for your information and delectation. Read on.

First up, as I suspect always, we need to talk about Scrooge, and all the shows invoking his name at this time of year.

There are four new ‘A Christmas Carol’ related shows in this week’s new tips, but weirdly, of all those Scroogey shows we tipped in the last few weeks, only one is still running, through to 6 Jan, and that’s ‘Tiny Tim’s Christmas Carol’ at the Orange Tree Theatre (pictured above).

Don’t be sad, though, there are a bunch of other Scrooge shows we never got around to tipping, such as the Jack Thorne one on until 6 Jan at The Old Vic starring Christopher Eccleston, the one man show at the Dickens Museum until 23 Dec, eating-food version ‘The Great Christmas Feast’ until 14 Jan, and Mark Gatiss’s adaptation starring Keith Allen at Ally Pally until 7 Jan.

Oh, and there’s also the acclaimed Conan Doyle/Dickens mashup ‘A Sherlock Carol’ at the Marylebone Theatre.

Perhaps we should talk about pantomimes now? We tipped quite a few and even interviewed some people about them.

‘Jack And The Beanstalk’ at the OSO Arts Centre ends on 23 Dec, so get your skates on if you want to go to that, but you’ve got until 30 Dec to see ‘Potted Panto’ at Wilton’s Music Hall, and until 31 Dec to see both ‘Aladdin’ at the Hackney Empire and ‘Odyssey: A Heroic Pantomime’ at Jermyn Street Theatre.

And if you’re looking for something to cheer up the early days of the new year, ‘Aladdin’ at Fairfield Halls is on until 7 Jan, while ‘Cinderella’ at the Lyric Hammersmith and ‘Jack And The Beanstalk’ at Stratford East are both on until 6 Jan.

Next, I think, we will focus on child-focused and family shows, because there are frankly loads of them and many go on well into the new year, like ‘Charlie Cook’s favourite book’, on at Little Angel Studios until 4 Feb, ‘Wow! It’s Night-Time’, at Little Angel Theatre until 27 Jan, ‘The Snow Queen’ and ‘The Night Before Christmas’, both at Polka Theatre until 21 Jan and 14 Jan respectively, and ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’ at Jacksons Lane until 7 Jan.

If you’re looking for stuff that’s definitely in December, however, there’s ‘Fairy Tale On Church Street’ at the The Cockpit until 30 Dec, plus ‘Dear Santa’ at ArtsDepot, ‘The Light Princess’ at The Albany, and ‘Rapunzel’ at Theatre Peckham all on until Christmas Eve, and finally, finishing on 31 Dec are ‘Cinderella’ at Brixton House and ‘I Want My Hat Back’ at Artsdepot.

Okay, where shall we go next? Stuff that isn’t overtly Christmas themed? Okay, let’s do it. Though bear in mind that some of these shows may have a mild hint of Christmas just by dint of being a big fun show of the sort you might treat yourself to at Christmas time. Like, a musical, maybe.

Speaking of which, if you are looking for that kind of entertainment, we definitely have options, like ‘Unfortunate: The Untold Story Of Ursula The Sea Witch’ at Southwark Playhouse Elephant until 17 Feb, ‘Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York)’ at the Kiln Theatre until 20 Jan, and ‘Stranger Sings’ at Southwark Playhouse Borough until 6 Jan.

If you’re looking for a laugh, maybe try ‘The Time Machine’ at Park Theatre until 30 Dec, ‘£1 Thursdays’ until 22 Dec at The Finborough, and, all ending on 23 Dec: ‘Garry Starr Performs Everything’ at Southwark Playhouse Borough, ‘Spy Movie: The Play!’ at The Hope Theatre, and ‘Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen’ at Bush Theatre.

If you’re up for something with more serious themes, try ‘Dreaming And Drowning’, also at Bush Theatre, also until 23 Dec.

And finally, a more Christmassy ending to the proceedings, with “alternative Christmas show” ‘Protest Song’ at Arcola Theatre until 6 Jan, ‘Oh No It Isn’t’ – set backstage at a pantomime performance – at Jack Studio also until 6 Jan, and the yuletide-set comedy horror ‘Midwyntar’ at Old Red Lion until 22 Dec.

Plus, let’s not forget those shows that actually have actual Christmas words in the title: ‘Chriskirkpatrickmass – A Boyband Christmas Musical’ at Seven Dials Playhouse until 30 Dec, and ‘Christmas Is Cancelled’ at the Etcetera Theatre until Christmas Eve.

And, last but not least, a well loved favourite that possibly should have been up at the top of this list, but which I saved to nicely bookend it: ‘Shit-Faced Showtime: A Pissedmas Carol’ at Leicester Square Theatre until 6 Jan. Enjoy!

Plus, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all those who celebrate these things. See you in January!