Yes, we might only just be feeling the chill of autumn, but those early birds are booking their Christmas nights out already. Take a moment to plan a festive theatre trip, before the whirlwind of winter parties. Here are our favourite Christmassy shows in town, from sumptuous Victorian fable to the funniest of pantomimes.
After a superlative, sellout premiere in 2017, Jack Thorne's adaptation of A Christmas Carol returns. Book early for a heart-warming journey into Victorian London, complete with hot mince pies, ethereal floating lanterns and dustings of snow. Even the Scrooges will find themselves feeling moved by Dickens' classic festive fable.
No Christmas is complete without a version of the nativity story, ideally with a tribe of tea-towel wearing shepherds a nervous narrator who forgets the words. Feelgood festivity combines with uproarious comedy and a catchy score of songs in Nativity! The Musical, which returns after an impressive opening last year. The show is on a tour all around the UK, and will be in London just before Christmas.
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Poet John Masefield’s 1935 holiday favourite, The Box of Delights, comes to life beneath the vaulted ceilings and opulent frescoes of East London's Wilton's Music Hall.
It tells the story of a young boy, Kay Harker, charged by a powerful magician with protecting the wondrous Box of Delights, an ingenious device with time travelling powers. But will he be able to safeguard the mysterious contraption from evil sorcerer Abner Brown, who will stop at nothing to get his hands on it?
![Cinderella and the Beanstalk, Theatre 503 [STAR:4]](/images/uploads/cw-4936.jpeg)
This delightful festive show is proof that the best things can come in the smallest packages. In the tiny Theatre 503 above Battersea's Latchmere Pub, comedy trio Sleeping Tree had us hooting with laughter in Cinderella and the Beanstalk. And we weren't the only ones - the panto mash up returns for 2018 due to popular demand.
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It's the 20th anniversary of Hackney's Christmas pantomime, so the festive favourite will be bigger and brighter than ever.
Get ready for a fresh twist on all the Oh No You Didn't traditions as we follow young Aladdin from the distant land of Ha Ka Ney on a quest to find his fortune. Song, dance and tap-dancing pandas come together in a larger-than-life comedy featuring Olivier-winner Clive Rowe as the dame and TV star Tameka Empson as the empress.
Who says open air theatre is just for summer? Wrap up warm and load up on mulled wine for an Elizabethan singalong under the starry sky at Shakespeare's Globe. Drawing on the tradition of sharing hot cider with neighbours, the Winter Wassail is a mixture of poetry, readings, stories and songs with live music from The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble and The Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments.
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The Lyric Hammersmith panto is a favourite with families thanks to a crowd-pleasing combo of fairytale magic and sassy jokes. With comedian Cariad Lloyd writing the script, this year's Dick Whittington promises to be especially packed with jokes. Plus there's all the music, oddity and warm 'n' fuzzy happy ending you could wish for.
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