The West End has always drawn big names, and this autumn Theatreland is especially well stocked with them. Screen favourites, pop stars and some of the finest stage actors around are all taking to the boards across London as the new season opens. Here is our guide to the stars on stage in the West End in autumn 2026.
Gaten Matarazzo - Rent
Duke of York’s Theatre
Gaten Matarazzo is known to millions as Dustin Henderson in the global phenomenon Stranger Things. This autumn he leads the company of a bold new 30th-anniversary production of Jonathan Larson’s Rent as Mark, the aspiring filmmaker documenting a year in the lives of a group of young artists in New York’s East Village. Directed by Luke Sheppard, it brings a genuine screen star to one of musical theatre’s most beloved scores.
Keira Knightley - The Lives of Others
Adelphi Theatre
One of Britain’s most celebrated film stars, Keira Knightley is a two-time Oscar nominee known for Pride and Prejudice, Atonement, The Imitation Game and the Pirates of the Caribbean films. She returns to the West End stage in Robert Icke’s electrifying adaptation of the Oscar-winning film The Lives of Others, set in East Berlin under the watchful eye of the Stasi. She is joined by Stephen Dillane, of Game of Thrones fame, and Bridgerton’s Luke Thompson.
Christine Baranski and Richard E. Grant - Hay Fever
Wyndham’s Theatre
Two screen favourites headline Noël Coward’s irresistible comedy Hay Fever. Christine Baranski is beloved for The Good Wife and The Good Fight, Mamma Mia! and The Big Bang Theory, while Richard E. Grant is unforgettable in Withnail and I and earned an Oscar nomination for Can You Ever Forgive Me? Together they lead the eccentric Bliss family in Emily Burns’ stinging new production, and the pairing promises some of the sharpest comic sparring of the season.
Sam Ryder - Jesus Christ Superstar
Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Pop star Sam Ryder, who flew the flag for the UK at Eurovision 2022 with the chart-topping “Space Man”, takes the title role in Jesus Christ Superstar, the Olivier Award-winning Regent’s Park production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s rock opera, as it transfers to the grand stage of Drury Lane. The show’s real masterstroke is its revolving King Herod, a cameo handed to a different star every week or two across the run, among them Matt Bomer, Rob Brydon, Reece Shearsmith, Bob the Drag Queen, Michael Ball, Simon Russell Beale, Omid Djalili and Layton Williams. It makes every visit a slightly different night out, and a strictly limited season well worth timing to your favourite.
Kristin Scott Thomas - The Cherry Orchard
Harold Pinter Theatre
An Olivier Award winner and an Oscar nominee for The English Patient, Kristin Scott Thomas is one of the most distinguished actors of her generation, with Four Weddings and a Funeral and Darkest Hour among her many screen credits. She stars in a new version of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard by Conor McPherson, directed by Ian Rickson, as a family returns to the estate they are about to lose.
Rory Kinnear and Natalia Osipova - The Standard of Living
Theatre Royal Haymarket
Two-time Olivier Award winner Rory Kinnear, familiar from the James Bond films and Penny Dreadful, plays the economist John Maynard Keynes, opposite Royal Ballet superstar Natalia Osipova as the dancer Lydia Lopokova in The Standard of Living, a new play about their unlikely and captivating romance. It is a rare chance to see one of the world’s great ballerinas share a stage with one of our finest actors.
More to come
The autumn stage is as starry as any in recent memory, and there are more famous faces arriving as the season goes on. For the full picture of what is on and who is in it, browse our complete range of West End shows and book your seats.
