The stars of some of the biggest and best TV shows are heading to the stage in 2024 to really put themselves in the spotlight. Here’s our pick of the plays to (try to) book now to see Hollywood in real life…

The Importance Of Being Earnest

Taking another step through time, but without a Tardis on this occasion, Ncuti Gatwa is headed back to the 1890s. The Doctor Who, Barbie and Sex Education star will make his National Theatre debut in the Oscar Wilde comedy The Importance Of Being Earnest. He will play hedonistic bachelor Algernon Moncrieff in the play about friendship, love and mistaken identity alongside Amanda Lawrence, Hugh Skinner, Richard Cant and three-time Olivier award winner Sharon D Clarke. 

From 20 November 2024 at The National Theatre

Richard II

Jonathan Bailey is booked and busy. This year he’s starred in Bridgerton and Fellow Travellers and is also in training for Jurrasic World before appearing opposite Ariane Grande and Cynthia Erivo in Wicked. Yet he still found a gap in his schedule for the theatre. 

The actor will appear in a new version of Shakespeare’s historical play, which follows troubled monarch Richard II during his reign and downfall. 

 From 10 February 2025 at the Bridge Theatre

The Tempest and Much Ado About Nothing 

The big guns are out in forces for two adaptation of Shakespeare’s plays, directed by Jamie Lloyd

Firstly Sigourney Weaver will make her West End debut playing Prospero (traditionally a male part) in The Tempest, the play about a shipwreck. 

Then Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell will take on Benedick and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, who are always at each other’s throats until their friends plot to make them fall in love with each other. If only it was that simple… 

The Tempest, from 7 December and Much Ado About Nothing from 10 February at Theatre Royal Drury Lane  

The Devil Wears Prada

She’s already played one magazine high-flyer, and now Vanessa Williams is back for more as she takes on Miranda Priestly. The star of Ugly Betty will appear in the much-anticipated stage version of The Devil Wears Prada, which follows Andy, an aspiring journalist (played by newcomer Georgie Buckland), her colleague Emily (Six star Amy Di Bartolomeo) and their working days (and nights) trying to please their exacting and powerful magazine boss. 

With music by Elton John, this is going to be an extravaganza. You can watch a glimpse of what to expect below. 

From 24 October at the Dominion Theatre

The Duchess

Another Doctor Who alumna heads to the West End. Jodie Whittaker will star in a contemporary version of The Duchess Of Malfi, about a widow who defies her family’s desires by marrying someone from a lower class, leaving her brothers to enact revenge and take away her power. 

From 5 October at the Trafalgar Theatre 

The Real Thing 

This intriguing-sounding play by Tom Stoppard is all about love, infidelity and history repeating itself. 

James McArdle (Mare of Easttown) plays Henry who falls in love with Annie (Bel Powley). But it’s particularly complicated as Henry is married to Charlotte (Susan Wokoma) and Annie is married to Max (Oliver Johnstone). Divorce ensues and Henry marries Annie, but the grass isn’t always greener. 

From 22 August at The Old Vic 

Macbeth 

It’s an all-star billing as Cush Jumbo and David Tennant take on Macbeth, following a sold-out run at the Donmar Warehouse. Tennant will play the hard-nosed king who receives a prophecy that says he will rise to power, with Jumbo his ruthless wife. 

This modern-day version will also see the audience wear headphones to fully immerse themselves in the heads and worlds of the famed Scottish play. 

From 1 October at Harold Pinter theatre 

Dr Strangelove

Alan Partridge himself,(or if we must be pedantic it’s actually Steve Coogan the man behind Alan) will head to the stage this Autumn in an adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s 1960s masterpiece. 

Coogan will play multiple roles in the satirical war film about a US general gone rogue who triggers a nuclear crisis. With a script written by Sean Foley and Armando Iannucci (who also co-created I’m Alan Partridge) prepare for many dark laughs. 

From 8 October at Noël Coward Theatre 

Oedipus 

If you haven’t yet had your fill of politics already this year, this play starring The Crown and Sherwood star Lesley Manville is for you. 

Based on the epic tragedy by Sophocles, the 2,500-year-old story becomes a modern thriller centred on Oedipus (Mark Strong), who becomes king by murdering his father and marrying his mother (Manville). 

From 4 October at Wyndham Theatre

Slave Play 

After being nominated for 12 Tonys on Broadway, the record-breaking Slave Play by Jeremy O Harris is headed to London. Game Of Thrones star Kit Harrington will star alongside Olivia Washington in the story about three interracial couples. Each couple has put themselves forward for antebellum eexual performance therapy, designed to reinvigorate pleasure for Black people who no longer feel desire for their white partners.

From 29 June at the Noël Coward Theatre

Images: Michael Wharley, Getty, Wolf Marloh