September on the London Stage: David Oyelowo Does Shakespeare, Ramin Karimloo Sings Elvis Costello and Marlow & Moss Are Back

Summer is saying its goodbyes, and with that comes the seasonal promise of exciting theater for the fall. That’s nowhere more true than in London, which offers a dizzying array of shows in the month ahead. From vaunted classics to enticing new musicals, what follows are five offerings to set the pulse racing as the blood begins to thicken.

I’M A BELIEVER
Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing is widely credited with being the Tony-winning play from 1984 in which the legendary wordsmith, now 87, led from the heart and not just the head. Telling of a playwright who discovers firsthand the lacerations caused by love, the play boasts two choice roles in Henry and Annie, who are played in this Old Vic revival by James McArdle (Angels in America) and Bel Powley (Arcadia).

Max Webster, the director, met with Stoppard when both were in contention at the 2023 Tonys—Stoppard for Leopoldstadt, Webster for Life of Pi. This much-revived play, Webster told Broadway.com, “is one of Tom’s very, very best. It asks questions which are absolutely timeless: What is love, real love, and who gets to write about what? It’s about the universal truth of being human,” as audiences will discover come opening night September 2.

ENCORE
What do you do for a follow-up when your debut musical—in this case, SIX—has been an international smash, winning you and your collaborator a 2022 Tony for Best Score? In the case of Toby Marlow, co-creator with Lucy Moss of that historically themed pop-fest, you turn to the timeless issue of relationships, or lack thereof: an existential question posed by the title of their new musical, Why Am I So Single?, opening at the Garrick Theatre on September 10. (Audiences at Marlow and Moss’ cabaret appearances at New York’s 54 Below in 2022 will have heard a few songs from the show then.)

And what of the title itself being a question: “We just thought it was really funny,” says Marlow. “It’s quite colloquial and quite literal but it’s also the impetus of the show.” This musical, Marlow added, should appeal whether a playgoer has a partner or not. “I personally hope that people take from the show a celebration of love in all its forms, no matter their relationship status. There’s so much love in our lives, and I think it’s also worth celebrating that.”

THEY DO NOT MOVE
Waiting for Godot is always worth the wait, not least when it comes to the potent-sounding West End revival opening September 19 at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, boasting Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati as those eternal existentialists, Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo). Jonathan Slinger and 2012 Tony nominee Tom Edden (One Man, Two Guvnors) lend fire power as Pozzo and Lucky, and their director is James Macdonald.

“It’s been a wonderful homecoming; I’ve missed it,” Game of Thrones alumnus Msamati said of returning to the stage, where he has shone during the past decade in National Theatre revivals of Amadeus and “Master Harold” ... and the Boys. What drew him back to the fold this time? “I’m really a theater animal, so for me to get back to the stage is very, very special, especially in the wonderful, strange, incredibly relatable world of Beckett.” As for those who may be daunted by the Irish master, Msamati proffers wise words, indeed: “Bleep bleep,” he told Broadway.com, carefully avoiding an expletive, “the mythology surrounding the play; just step into it and let it happen.” You will be moved.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE
Kwame Kwei-Armah is closing out his tenure running the Young Vic with A Face in the Crowd, a new Elvis Costello musical with a book by Sarah Ruhl, based on the 1957 Elia Kazan-directed movie of the same name; Ramin Karimloo and Anoushka Lucas head the cast. As if that lineup weren’t mighty enough, the show’s designer is 2022 Tony nominee Anna Fleischle (Hangmen), who rarely seems to pause for breath. (Her recent credits include the excellent London premiere of Lucas Hnath’s Red Speedo.)

“It feels like we’re looking at the period [of the movie] from a contemporary point of view,” Fleischle says. “It’s not a museum piece. The story,” about the use and abuse of power, “speaks to our times.” She points out that the central male character—Andy Griffith’s screen role performed on stage by Karimloo—“is called an influencer in the film. People will think we’re trying to update the material but we’re not. This could be then, it could be now.” The best art, in other words, transcends time.

MOTHER AND SON
David Oyelowo played Othello off-Broadway in 2016 opposite Daniel Craig and has returned to Britain to tackle the title role in Shakespeare’s military-minded Coriolanus, opening September 24 at the National; Lyndsey Turner directs. But for all the testosterone on parade, the play also features one of the defining child-parent relationships in all Shakespeare in the vexed bond between the warrior-son of the title and his domineering mother, Volumnia.

“She’s an amazing character,” says Pamela Nomvete, the Ethiopia-born South African performer who comes to the production directly from the London premiere of Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew at the Donmar. (She spent a month performing that play eight times a week while fitting in Shakespeare rehearsals.) Add in her 2023 Olivier nomination for the West End bow of To Kill A Mockingbird, and Nomvete is well aware that she is having what one might call a moment. “I’m busier than I’ve been in years,” she says with a surprised smile. And after Coriolanus closes? The smile broadens into a laugh. “I’d quite like a holiday.”