V&A EAST, STRATFORD
The new V&A East has quickly become one of the best reasons to head over to Stratford, particularly if music, design and popular culture are your thing.
The Music is Black: A British Story
Until 10 January 2027 · Exhibition
An immersive journey through 125 years of Black music-making in Britain, from lovers rock and reggae to jungle, trip hop and grime. Music, photography, fashion and instruments bring the story to life – and yes, there’s plenty to listen to.
Rewind: Grime on Camera
10 October · Talk
A look at the images and photographers that helped document grime as it emerged and changed British music culture. A good accompaniment to the main exhibition.
Black Joy Day: The Music is Black – Sounds of Our Stories
26 November · Talk / Event
An afternoon and evening exploring the creativity, resilience and joy running through 125 years of Black British music, with curator Jacqueline Springer leading the conversation.
Look What I Found: The Music is Black
17 October · Free drop-in / Performance
Artists Gerald Eze and Susana Palacios explore objects from the V&A collection through music, migration and memory. Free, and a nice excuse to poke around the collection beyond the main exhibition.
SADLER’S WELLS EAST
The East London outpost of Sadler’s Wells is making Stratford a serious destination for dance. The autumn programme moves from contemporary work and hip-hop to spectacular physical theatre and family shows.
THE HERD/LESS
8-10 October · Dance
Part of Dance Umbrella, this striking contemporary work explores people, community and the strange relationship between individuals and the group.
Far From Home – Alleyne Dance
15-17 October · Dance
A powerful work exploring displacement, migration and the idea of home through movement, music and storytelling.
Dickson Mbi Company, TELLUS
21-24 October · Dance
Expect explosive movement and hip-hop-inspired choreography from Dickson Mbi, one of the UK’s most exciting contemporary dance artists.
READ BEAST chats to Olivier Award-winning dancer, choreographer and composer, Dickson Mbi
Hidden – Motionhouse
27-31 October · Dance / Physical Theatre
Big physical movement, theatricality and spectacular visuals combine in this large-scale production from Motionhouse. One for the visually minded.
Lost Dog: The Last Hamlet
4-7 November · Dance / Theatre
Hamlet gets another East London outing, this time reimagined through dance-theatre company Lost Dog’s distinctive lens.
HUMANHOOD: Vortex
10-14 November · Dance
A hypnotic contemporary work from HUMANHOOD exploring circular movement, ritual and the relationship between the human body and the cosmos.
Ebony Scrooge – ZooNation
24 November – 3 January · Dance / Family
Back by popular demand – and one we loved last year. Zoonation puts a hip-hop spin on A Christmas Carol, with brilliant choreography, infectious energy and a Scrooge you probably haven’t met before. Definitely one to book.
READ BEAST chats to Associate Artistic Director Dannielle ‘Rhimes’ Lecointe about Ebony Scrooge and her creative journey
THE ARCOLA, DALSTON
Dalston’s Arcola continues to be one of our favourite places for smart, ambitious theatre without West End prices. This season is particularly strong on work about power, politics, ambition and the messy business of being human.
The Banality of Evil: Hannah Arendt, France, 1940
8 October – 7 November · Theatre
Three women, a French internment camp and the extraordinary young Hannah Arendt. Cabaret, physical theatre and satire combine in this new play about exile, survival and moral choices.
The Master Builder
16 October – 21 November · Theatre
Ibsen’s dark drama gets a new staging from Arcola artistic director Mehmet Ergen, starring Greg Hicks as an architect whose fear of becoming irrelevant catches up with him. Ambition and legacy, with a distinctly uncomfortable edge.
SQUID: A Victim Impact Statement
11-14 November · Theatre
A short run of Johnny Daukes’ new work exploring crime, consequences and the complicated business of victimhood.
The Ugly One
17 November – 19 December · Theatre
A darkly funny play about beauty, identity and what happens when your face suddenly becomes everyone else’s business. Expect plenty to chew over on the way home.
Tucked away on Kingsland Road, Playhouse East is one of those small independent spaces worth keeping on the radar. It’s intimate, experimental and the sort of place where you can see work before it becomes a bigger deal.
In the Eye of the Beholder
27-28 October · Theatre / Comedy
A thief, a gallery worker and a banana taped to a wall worth millions. Inspired by true events, this darkly comic one-act play takes us inside the absurd and seductive world of contemporary art, where value, money and ambition are all up for grabs. Two strangers, a million between them – what could possibly go wrong?
AWAKEN
31 October – 1 November · Theatre
Part supernatural thriller, part historical drama, this gripping new play jumps between 1653 and the present day as a modern woman becomes caught up in the story of women persecuted as witches. It also digs into the lost working-class language known as Canting.
The Invisible Saxophone
14-15 November · Comedy / Theatre
One-woman show. Performed by a man. A comedy. Or so it seems. This bold, brand-new show mixes physical comedy, dark humour and Eastern European deadpan with the wonderfully absurd story of losing your voice and finding it again. There’s no set, no props and, despite the title, no saxophone. Sorry for the spoiler.
Stratford East has a properly eclectic few months ahead, moving from contemporary theatre to hip-hop dance before going full festive with a very East London panto.
Application 39
13-14 October · Theatre
A sharply satirical new drama from Palestinian writer Ahmed Masoud, looking towards a possible future and asking some uncomfortable questions about politics, technology and power.
Surinderella
20-31 October · Theatre / Panto
Rifco Arts gives Cinderella an Indian twist in a colourful, lively reworking of the classic fairy tale. Expect romance, comedy and plenty of festive energy.
Boy Blue: 25 Stories
5-7 November · Dance
The Olivier Award-winning hip-hop company celebrates 25 years with a high-energy journey through its history. If you think dance isn’t your thing, start here.
Robin Hood and the Merry Mandem
21 November – 2 January · Panto
Forget Sherwood Forest. This Robin Hood is heading for E15, with music, mischief and a very East London spin on the festive favourite. Basically, panto with attitude.
HACKNEY EMPIRE
Hackney Empire has one of those programmes where you can go from serious theatre to comedy, music and then straight into panto season without leaving Mare Street.
The Nature of Forgetting
8 October · Theatre
A moving piece of physical theatre exploring memory, identity and what happens when the stories that make us who we are begin to disappear.
Talawa Iconic: 40th Anniversary Showcase
13 October · Theatre / Performance
Talawa Theatre Company celebrates four decades of Black British theatre with a special showcase looking back at its extraordinary contribution to the stage.
The World As We See It
20 October · Theatre / Performance
A contemporary performance exploring different perspectives and experiences of the world around us.
Empire Nights with Jamali Maddix
22 October · Comedy
A night of comedy hosted by Jamali Maddix. Expect a lively Hackney crowd and considerably less solemnity than some of the theatre listings elsewhere in this guide.
Jack and the Beanstalk
21 November – 31 December · Panto
Clive Rowe returns as Dame Trot in Hackney Empire’s festive favourite. Giant laughs, songs, dance, extravagant costumes and plenty of audience participation. Christmas has officially arrived.
WILTON’S MUSIC HALL
There are few better places in London for a night out than Wilton’s. The gloriously battered Victorian music hall makes practically anything feel more atmospheric – Shakespeare, opera, jazz or a Christmas story.
Romeo & Juliet
15-17 October · Theatre
A bold reworking of Shakespeare’s most famous love story, with original music and dynamic staging. Passion, peril and teenage decisions that definitely won’t end well.
Stoker Wilde
27-31 October · Theatre
A suitably gothic choice for Halloween week, bringing the worlds of Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde together. Perfectly matched to Wilton’s wonderfully atmospheric surroundings.
The Marriage of Figaro
23-25 November · Opera
Mozart gets a fresh Yorkshire twist, with a new translation by Ian McMillan and a musical blend of Western and Indian classical traditions. Opera, but definitely not as your granny knows it.
Jazz Noël
27 November · Music
Christmas classics get a sophisticated jazz makeover, with a four-horn line-up, rhythm section and two vocalists. Festive without going full tinsel overload.
Dead Poets Live – Louise Glück: Meadowlands / Vita Nova
28 November · Poetry / Performance
Two collections by Nobel Prize-winning poet Louise Glück, both centred on the end of a marriage and its aftermath. Funny, painful and beautifully observed.
The Little Match Girl
3 December – 2 January · Theatre / Family
A magical, funny and slightly eccentric Christmas production in one of London’s most magical old buildings. The sort of festive theatre that works for adults as much as children.
SHOREDITCH TOWN HALL
Shoreditch Town Hall is celebrating 160 years, so naturally it’s doing it with a programme that refuses to sit neatly in one box. Cabaret, theatre, dance and some wonderfully oddball performance all feature.
16 Acts
9 October · Cabaret / Performance
Sixteen artists who have made the Town Hall their stage come together for one enormous variety night. Drag, comedy, dance, music, cabaret, experimental performance and social commentary — basically, expect the unexpected.
Ceilidh The Musical
23 October-13 November · Musical / Theatre
A brand-new musical making its London debut, inspired by Scotland’s great social tradition of songs, stories and dancing. Find yourself a partner and prepare to be swept onto the dance floor.
Woodhill
14-19 November · Theatre / Dance
Three men die in Woodhill prison and their families demand answers. Documentary theatre, dance and verbatim testimony combine in this powerful true story about the crisis inside Britain’s prisons.
BISHOPSGATE INSTITUTE
Bishopsgate Institute is less about sitting quietly in the dark and more about getting involved. Its beautiful Victorian building has a packed dance programme, making it a good place to try something new – or rediscover something you used to know how to do.
Charles’s Jukebox
From 3 October · Dance / Music
A regular social dance night bringing together music, movement and a friendly crowd. No intimidating nightclub required.
Pink Jukebox
From 11 October · Dance
A ballroom and Latin night celebrating LGBTQIA+ dancers and friends. Come to dance, watch or simply soak up the atmosphere.
Bishopsgate Ballroom
From 23 October · Dance
A regular night of ballroom and Latin dancing in the beautiful Bishopsgate surroundings. Dust off the dancing shoes.
Swing Den
From 9 October · Dance
A monthly swing night for dancers of different levels, with plenty of opportunity to actually get on the floor rather than just admire everyone else doing it.
Pink Dancers’ Winter Ball
21 November · Dance / Event
A special winter celebration bringing the Pink Dancers community together for a proper ballroom night out.
There’s always something worth crossing the threshold of the Barbican for, along with the architecture.
Robert Ryman: The Real Thing
8 October 2026-28 February 2027 · Exhibition
More than 60 works by the influential American artist, whose deceptively simple paintings reward looking closely. Expect white, texture, light and lots of “I could do that” followed by a slightly humbled realisation that you absolutely couldn’t.
End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland
8-11 October · Theatre
Haruki Murakami’s strange, dreamlike world gets a stage adaptation as parallel realities, consciousness and identity start to blur. A good one for anyone who likes their theatre slightly surreal.
Tom at the Farm
13-17 October · Theatre
A raw Brazilian production exploring masculinity, homophobia and the pressure to conform. Seductive, volatile and decidedly not lightweight.
Dance is Not for Us
16-17 October · Dance
Lebanese choreographer Omar Rajeh combines personal memoir with politics in an intimate solo performance about continuing to dance when everything around you says stop.
Hamlet Hail to the Thief
31 October 2026 – 23 January 2027 · Theatre / Music
Shakespeare’s Hamlet collides with Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief in a theatrical mash-up of music, movement and one seriously troubled prince. This feels like one of the season’s big tickets.
BEAST PICKS
For a big night out: Hamlet Hail to the Thief at the Barbican
For something different: 16 Acts at Shoreditch Town Hall
For explosive energy: Dickson Mbi Company, TELLUS
For dance: Boy Blue: 25 Stories at Stratford East
For art: The Music is Black at V&A East
For Christmas: Ebony Scrooge at Sadler’s Wells East
For atmosphere: Wilton’s Music Hall – basically anything
For discovering something new: The Arcola or Playhouse East
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