Did you say family friendly shows? Well you’ve come to the right place. From toddlers to teens and every age in between. We have selected the top picks to get you and your little Londoners into festive mode. There’s lots for families to enjoy this festive period in London.
Stick Man
The 2008 children’s book written by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler is brought to life in this jolly performance by Scamp Theatre. Expect laugh out loud moments, loads of audience participation, live music and loads of puppets alongside a visit from santa. Read our review of the show here.
When: on until 26 Jan 2020
Where: Leicester Square Theatre
How much: tickets start at £24 and can be purchased here.
The Canterville Ghost
Oscar Wilde’s comic novel is brought to life this Christmas at the Unicorn Theatre. Expect spine tingling magic effects, spectacular illusions and ghoulish effects in this delightfully spooky tale sprinkled with Wilde’s wonderful wit.
When: 10 November – 5 Jan 2020
Where: Unicorn Theatre
How much: from £18 for an adult and £12 for under 16s. More info and booking here.
Cinderella
Polish your glass slippers, dust off your carriage and join us as the clock strikes midnight for the Fairy Godmother of pantomimes, Cinderella. Get ready for a festive panto ball with this classic fairytale re-imagined with a modern Lyric twist.
When: 16 November – 5 Jan 2020
Where: Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith
How much: £10 -£46 depending on demand. More info and booking here.
The Lion King
Celebrate the circle of life this Christmas with the impressive Lion King. The coming of age story is a timeless classic where you can expect lots of adventures in the savannah, elaborate costumes and lots of music and dancing. But beware as it is recommended for ages 6 and above (and the Lyceum theatre will not let kid under 3 enter).
When: From 19 November and then ongoing
Where: Lyceum Theatre
How much: from £30 more info and booking here. The Young Londoner’s a limited number of seats for each night’s performance will go on sale at the box office every morning from 10am priced around £20-£25 each. More info here.
Raymond Briggs Father Christmas
Join Santa as he awakes from a dream of sun, sea and sand only to find it is the busiest day of the year: Christmas Eve. Prices at the Lyric rise with demand so make sure you book yours in early.
When: 20 November – 29 December
Where: Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith
How much: £12 – £20 more info and booking here.
The Snowman
Raymond Briggs’ festive favourite The Snowman continues to entertain generation after generation and this year’s performance from the Birmingham Repertory will transport young Londoners to a wintery wonderland for a festive adventure.
When: 21 November – 5 Jan 2020
Where: Peacock Theatre
How much: £18 – £55
The Pixie and the Pudding
When Charlie and her dad move to the farm from the city, everything seems to go wrong. Dolly the cow’s in a grump, there’s not an egg to be found, and even the cockerel has stopped crowing! If only they’d paid attention to the mysterious note left on their windowsill about a curious pixie and the pudding she likes to eat on Christmas Eve. A magical, musical family show with a storyline accessible for children of four and over, it explores ideas of tradition, rural life versus city life, friendship and being kind.
When: 22 November – 2 Feb
Where: Little Angel Theatre
How much: £15 for adults and £13 for children between 1 and 15 years of age. All tickets are £5 on Fridays after 5pm. More info and booking here.
Sleeping Beauty
Andrew Pollard returns to Greenwich Theatre for a very special pantomime, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the reopening of Greenwich Theatre with a tale of a sleeping princess, an unlikely hero, an even more unlikely villain – and an adventure that promises to be out of this world.
When: 22 November 2019 – 12 Jan 2020
Where: Greenwich Theatre
How much: Adults £30 and kids 16 and under £15.50 more info and booking here.
The Showstoppers Christmas Show
Join the Showstopper Elves in the Christmas grotto where they will take your kids suggestions (however outrageous!) and transform them on the spot into magical, musical interactive adventures. Shaun the Sheep meets Dora at the North Pole? Done! The Paw Patrol help Father Christmas deliver presents? No problem! Peppa Pig and Spiderman build a snowman? Of course!
When: 23 November until 1 December
Where: Leicester Square
How much: from £14 more info and booking here.
The Wolf, The Duck and the Mouse
Join Unicorn Theatre this Christmas for the stage adaptation of Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s brilliantly subversive picture book which finds joy and friendship in the darkest and most unusual of places. The Mouse who is eaten by a wolf who is then stalked by a hunter.
When: 23 November til Jan 2020
Where: Unicorn Theatre
How much: £12 – £22 visit their website here for more info and booking.
Snow White
Roll up, roll up for a magical new musical version of a familiar tale – a mammoth production guaranteed to fill the festive period with heartwarming cheer. Set in a colourful 1960s world where traditional roles are changing fast, what better place for a modern Snow White to ‘find’ herself – in all senses of the word?
When: 27 November – 11 January 2020
Where: Rayne Theatre, Chickenshed
How much: from £10 more info and booking here.
We’re going on a bear hunt
Based on the much-loved classic picture book by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, this thrilling and funny adventure is the perfect Christmas treat for the whole family. Join in on the bear hunt and expedition of a lifetime – running down the grassy bank, wading through the cold river, squelching over the oozy mud, stumbling into the dark forest, then peering into a cave.
When: 28 November – 24 December
Where: Stratford Circus Arts
How much: £13 more info and booking here.
Oi Frog & Friends
Kenny Wax Family Entertainment presents the premiere of Oi Frog & Friends! the highly anticipated stage show which brings together Kes Gray and Jim Field‘s bestselling and award-winning picture books Oi Frog!, Oi Dog! and Oi Cat! published by the Hachette Children’s Group, into one action-packed musical production. For families with children of 3 and above.
When: 29 November – January 5 2020
Where: Lyric Theatre Shaftesbury Avenue
How much: £16.10 to £24.40 more info and booking here.
Peppa’s Best Day Ever
Peppa, the most famous swine around, is joined by her family and alliterative friends in an adventure like no other. Expect loads of muddy puddles, dragons and dinosaurs and plenty of caves and castles.
When: November 29 – Jan 5
Where: Duke of York’s Theatre
How much: £12.50 more info and booking here.
Me
The world is a very big place, especially for a tiny baby penguin who is just finding her feet. The shimmering stars and glistening snow spin around our little hero, while the mountains tower high and the wind rushes to and fro. And although baby penguin may be small, her family knows she’s the biggest thing of all. This early years favourite is a lovely and touching story about a parent and their love for their child by much loved children’s author Emma Dodd.
When: 29 November – 2 Feb
Where: Little Angel Theatre
How much: £13.50 for adults and £11.50 for children between 1 and 15 years of age. All tickets are £5 on Fridays after 5pm. More info and booking here.
Christmas Carol – A Fairy Tale
1838, London. Jacob Marley is dead. And so is Ebenezer Scrooge. In this version of Dickens’s story Ebenezer died young, but his sister Fan married Marley and, as his widow, has now inherited his money lending business. She has become notorious as the most monstrous miser ever known, a legendary misanthrope, lonely, and despised by all who cross her path until on the eve of Christmas Fan Scrooge will be haunted by three spirits.
When: 29 November – 4 January
Where: Wilton’s Music Hall
How much: £12.50 – £36 full price, £10 – £32 concessions. More info and booking here
Goldilocks and the three musketeers
Goldilocks flees from the Three Bears into the deep, dark wood and stumbles down a rabbit hole to escape, finding herself in Wonderland where all is not well…Teaming up with The Three Musketeers and a whole host of fairy tale favourites (with a little help from the audience), can Goldilocks rescue Wonderland and live happily ever after before it’s too late?
When: 30 November – 31 December
Where: Battersea Arts Centre
How much: £10 to £24 but all tickets are £10 on 30 November. More info and booking here.
Tabby McTat
From the team behind Tiddler and Other Terrific Tales and Zog, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Tabby McTat is a heart-warming tale of friendship and loyalty interwoven with original songs and a sprinkling of magic. Tabby McTat is a cat with the loudest of meee-ews and a best friend with a guitar. Together they sing their favourite songs delighting the crowds, until one day Fred disappears. Separated and alone, Tabby finds shelter and a new life with all the home comforts that any cat could dream of. However, memories of his life with Fred haunt him, and he sets off to search the streets for his long-lost friend.
When: 2 December – 14 December
Where: Fairfield Halls Croydon
How much: from £13 more info and bookings here.
Story Storks presents: Dick Whittington
A brand new Christmas adventure from the team who brought you The Christmas Crocodile, The Three Little Christmas pigs and The Forgotten Christmas Elf. Full of fun, laughter, phonics, counting, dance, song, shapes, puppetry and a comedy cat, this interactive show is a magical blend of history and legend combined into beautiful storytelling.
When: 3 Dec – 7 Dec
Where: Rose Theatre Kingston
How much: Tickets start from £9.50. More info and booking here.
Christmas Tales at Chickenshed
Christmas tales is back for another year. With puppets, singing, dancing and some larger-than-life characters, Christmas Tales is guaranteed to entertain the very youngest of audience (and grown-ups too!), sure to remove any Bah Humbug from your life.
When: 4 – 30 December
Where: Rayne Theatre Chickenshed
How much: £10 each or £35 for a family and children under 1 go free. More info and booking here.
The Snow Queen
Join Gerda on her epic journey through the seasons to save her best friend Cei before she loses him to endless Winter. With the help of bickering flowers, overworked teachers, snowball fights, confused Princes and Princesses and Bae the talking Reindeer, they might both be ready to grow up after all.
When: 4 December 2019 – 4 Jan 2020
Where: Park Theatre in Finsbury Park
How much: Adult tickets from £18.50 and children under 16 £15 more info and booking here.
Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs: The magical cutlass
When Flinn, Pearl and Tom are in the middle of their school play their old nemesis, Mr T the T-Rex, appears and kidnaps the children forcing them to hunt for the secretive Magic Cutlass; a sword that grants the holder any wish! The children are whisked away for another fantastic adventure to a world of devious dinosaurs, deep sea dangers and smelly sausages! It’s all aboard, me hearties, for a real live pirate adventure!
When: 7 December – 5 Jan 2020
Where: Leicester Square Spiegeltent
How much: from £12 more info and booking here.
The tiger who came to tea
The puuurfect Christmas treat as Judith Kerr’s classic tail is brought to life by David Wood. Join Sophie and her mum in entertaining their fur-iend. And prepare for the unexpected as anything is pawsiible with this clawmsy tiger.
When: 9 December til 19 Jan 2020
Where: Theatre Royal Haymarket
How much: from £14.50 more info and booking here. Babes in arms of 18 months and below don’t need a ticket for this production
All Wrapped Up
Unwrap a world of imagination with Oily Cart’s mischievous, wintery show for under fives which finds the stories hidden in wrapping paper and brings them to life through light, shadow and music.
When: December 10 – December 31st
Where: Artsdepot, Finchley
How much: £9 with children under 18 months going free. More info and booking here
The Paper Dolls
Adapted from the acclaimed picture book by Julia Donaldson and award-winning illustrator Rebecca Cobb, The Paper Dolls comes to life with stunning puppetry and original music in Polka Theatre’s much-loved production. A little girl cuts out a string of paper dolls and takes them on a fantastical adventure until a very real boy with very real scissors threatens to snip their adventures short.
When: 11 December 2019 – 5 January 2020
Where: New Wimbledon Theatre
How much: £14.30 and babes in arms under 12 months go free. More info and booking here.
The Cat in the Hat
Experience mischief this Christmas at The Turbine Theatre and see the acclaimed stage adaptation of Dr Seuss’s The Cat In The Hat. From the moment his tall, red-and-white-striped hat appears around the door, Sally and her brother know that the cat in the hat is the funniest, most mischievous cat they have ever met. With the trickiest of tricks and craziest of ideas, he turns a rainy afternoon into an amazing adventure. But what will mum find when he gets home?
When: 11 Dec – 11 Jan 2020
Where: Turbine Theatre Battersea
How much: from £10 more info and booking here.
The Little Prince
Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Author of The Little Prince). Narrated by a stranded pilot in the middle of the desert, the Little Prince tells the tale of an alien that leaves behind the tiny asteroid it calls home to journey through the universe coming face to face with the baffling world of grown-ups! Have you ever heard of a king who reigns over nothing? Or a businessman obsessively counting stars? Well now is your chance. The show is recommended for ages 5 and above.
When: 17 Dec – 24 Dec
Where: The Place
How much: £14 adults and £8 for children more info and booking here
Christmas at the Snow Globe
With the promise to entertain the whole family with this out of season opening, the Globe invites you to revive the magic of Christmas alongside comedians Sandi Toksvig and Sindhu Vee and their merry gang. They promise a bunch of interactive activities in the one and a half hour show, including singing classic Christmas tunes with the choir and making Shakespeare themed decorations whist glugging mulled wine and merriment. Bound to be a great time and won’t break the bank but wrap up warm as you may feel frosty even if the globe remains snowless this year.
When: 19-23 December 2019
Where: Shakespeare Globe
How much: Standing tickets £5 and seated tickets £15 more info and booking here.