The best theatre to see in the UK in January 2023

Cirque du Soleil – Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities

Cirque du Soleil – Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities (Image: Provided)

Cirque du Soleil’s latest import gets its European premiere at London’s Royal Albert Hall for the venerable venue’s 150th anniversary after playing to more than 4.5 million spectators around the globe. Inspired by steam punk, the show is sure to deliver what the troupe always excels at – namely jaw-dropping acrobatic spectacle framed by poetic visuals, storytelling artistry, and crowd-pleasing comedy.

Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities is at the Royal Albert Hall from 13 January to 5 March. Get tickets here.

The Boys Are Kissing

The Boys Are Kissing poster 9Image: Provided)

Situated above the Latchmere in Battersea, Theatre503 presents Zak Zarafshan’s debut play. It’s all about a stir that is sparked when classmates Samir and Lucas share a playground kiss, sending the school mums’ WhatsApp group into a tizz and forcing two ‘cherubic winged guardians of the gays’ to intervene in a comedy that its author says will be subversive and riotously funny.

The Boys Are Kissing is playing at Theatre503 from 17 January to 4 February. Get tickets here.

Sound of the Underground

The cast of Sound of the Underground (Image: Provided)

Legends of the London queer club scene come together for a new play by Travis Alabanza for the Royal Court Theatre that explores club culture and how it has shaped today’s queer artists. Performed in the intimate Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, the show features CHIYO, Lilly SnatchDragon, Ms Sharon Le Grand, Sue Gives A F*ck, and Wet Mess, with Alabanza saying: “Right now art and live art has a money problem, a crossroad to choose from – and I think cabaret artists are the most suited to interrogate these questions.”

Sound of the Underground plays at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs from 19 January to 25 February. Get tickets here.

Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus poster (Image: Provided)

Shakespeare’s revenge tragedy gets its first-ever run at the Globe Theatre’s Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, which is modelled on the candlelit theatres of The Bard’s London and should prove suitably moody for such a dark and disturbing work. The female-forward casting is led by Katy Stephens as the title character and director Jude Christian promises a feast for the senses in a survival-game-style torture chamber that revels in violence as entertainment.

Titus Andronicus plays at Shakespeare’s Globe from 19 January to 15 April. Get tickets here.

Dirty Dancing

Kira Malou and Michael O’Reilly in Dirty Dancing at the Dominion Theatre (Image: Mark Senior)

Carrying a watermelon to the Dominion Theatre might present problems at bag search but it’ll certainly put you in the mood for the return of Dirty Dancing to the West End. Hewing closely to the film version, with entire scenes and iconic dialogue recreated on stage, it’s a love-in for fans of one of the most rousing romances of all time. Just be sure they don’t put you in a corner (sorry).

Dirty Dancing plays at the Dominion Theatre from 21 January to 29 April. Get tickets here.

Welcome Home

Welcome Home poster (Image: Provided)

In what looks like a bumper month for queer theatre, another new play lands in the capital in the form of Willy Hudson’s Welcome Home. Returning to the Soho Theatre after his acclaimed play Bottom, the writer and performer ventures back to his childhood home after a bad breakup, only to be re-confronted by the controlling influence of the church in what’s dubbed as an autobiographical sci-fi epic that seeks to heal shame.

Welcome Home plays at the Soho Theatre from 26 January to 11 Feb. Get tickets here.