Wayne Eagling News Today

The Mousetrap is the world’s longest-running play. This thrilling West End production – which has become as much of a London icon as Big Ben or Buckingham Palace – is THE genre-defining murder mystery from the best-selling novelist of all time… case closed! 

Fresh from no fewer than 40 performances of Wayne Eagling’s Nutcracker (a production which now seems to thankfully be going into retirement) English National Ballet, are back less than a week later to round off their Coliseum season, this time it’s Mary Skeaping’s Giselle which they last performed seven years ago. 

The two companies variously capture the Christmas classic’s glittering pleasures – and its narrative strangeness

When I first saw The Nutcracker around a quarter of a century ago, I became sure of one thing: either I was on drugs, the cast were on drugs or we both were. A far cry from the average ballets, this dream-like work still has the power to enthral the young and old.

I wouldn’t mind seeing more ballet set to chart music: I wonder if David Bowie’s estate would grant permission for his music to be used in a similar way.

I wouldn’t mind seeing more ballet set to chart music: I wonder if David Bowie’s estate would grant permission for his music to be used in a similar way.

Here are the very best plays, musicals and ballets going on in London this Christmas. From Elf! to The Snowman, we've got it all.

Lynne Wake’s film about Ashton, available online, is a compelling glimpse into the way his great works are reinterpreted by new generations of dancers

The principal ballerina on portraying Virginia Woolf, why she’s so enthusiastic about ageing, and what she learned from the greats

Every year, London’s theatres begin to perform their festive shows in time with the Christmas season. With one of the most infamous ballet…