The 7 Best West End Shows To Book For Kids Theatre Week
The summer holidays have crept up, and in an attempt not to blow the budget within the first week, we’re hunting for ways to keep this summer affordable but heaps of fun. Here to help out is Kids Theatre Week! Every July and August some of London’s best West End shows team up to offer you a helping hand by letting kids go free.
Wondering how it works? From 20th July until 31st August, children 17 and under go free when accompanied by an adult paying full price. Plus, an additional two children can attend for half price, offering you a little helping hand.
Plenty of big-name shows get involved, from Matilda and Wicked to The Cursed Child. These are a few of the best ones…
Kids Theatre Week Shows To Book
Matilda The Musical
Perhaps one of the most beloved West End musicals of recent years, Roald Dahl’s classic is a must-see on the stage. With songs by Tim Minchin, it follows an extraordinary little girl with a razor-sharp mind and two thoroughly useless parents, who decides enough is enough and takes matters into her own hands. Over a decade into its West End run and still packing out the Cambridge Theatre, it turns out revenge (the sweet, sing-along kind) never really goes out of style.
Suitable for 6+
The Cursed Child
Harry Potter continues to be a cultural juggernaut for every generation. We’re just coming into the era where those who grew up with the books and films are starting to have children old enough to get hooked as well, which has resulted in, well, an eye-wateringly successful run for the play. For July and August, you can indulge the obsession for free.
Suitable for 10+
My Neighbour Totoro
Studio Ghibli’s beloved animated classic makes the leap to the West End stage, and it turns out those giant furry forest spirits are even more magical in the flesh (well, puppetry). Follow sisters Satsuki and Mei as they settle into a curious new countryside home and stumble into a world of sprites, spirits and one very large, very fluffy protector of the woods named Totoro. With puppets from the team behind War Horse, expect jaw-dropping craftsmanship alongside the wonder.
Suitable for 6+
Stranger Things: The First Shadow
For Netflix-obsessed teens rather than toddlers, this Olivier Award-winning prequel drags you back to Hawkins before Eleven ever showed up. Long before the world knew about the Upside Down, a new kid named Henry Creel arrives in town, and things start going very wrong indeed. Staged with jaw-dropping visual effects and illusions, it’s less a play and more a full-blown theatrical event, and it’s just picked up Best Entertainment at the Oliviers to prove it.
Suitable for 12+
Les Miserables
Victor Hugo’s giant, sweeping novel about poverty, rebellion, shame and corruption wasn’t the most obvious contender to become the most famous musical of all time, but that’s what it has become. Maybe one for more mature kids, but seeing as it is a common choice for schools to put on, it might be good practice for when they have to act in it themselves.
Suitable for 12+
Wicked
Unleash your inner child and bring the whole family along for an enchanting adventure that will delight audiences of all ages. Set in a mesmerising land of emerald greens and soaring towers, Wicked takes us back to the time before Dorothy and Toto arrived in Oz.
Head to the renowned Apollo Victoria Theatre, where Wicked has cast its spell over London for years, and experience the pure magic of this award-winning production.
Suitable for 5+
Come Alive!
For another spectacular summer outing, consider “COME ALIVE!” The Greatest Showman Circus Spectacular at the Empress Museum in Earls Court.
This phenomenal show, inspired by The Greatest Showman movie, features incredible West End talent and breathtaking international circus acts performing all your favourite hit songs like “This Is Me” and “A Million Dreams.”
