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Shows that suit a hen or stag do, an office Christmas party or a school trip, each with its group or school deal, the smallest party the deal names and the age guidance where the production gives one.
Group rates usually mean contacting the show or Group Line rather than booking online, so allow time. If you cannot get a party together yourself, register your interest on the show page and we will try to organise a trip.
Shows for a large, lively party that does not need anyone to know the story. Check the age line on each: a few are for adults only or have strong language.
Hippodrome Casino · 1hr 30min (no interval) · from £55
A dance and acrobatic show performed all around the room rather than on a stage, based on the Magic Mike films. It runs for ninety minutes with no interval, and it is the obvious choice for a hen night.
Worth knowing. For over-18s only, and anyone who looks under 25 must bring photo ID.
Tickets and dealsNovello Theatre · 2hr 35min (incl. 1 interval) · from £17.50
A wedding on a Greek island and ABBA songs everyone already knows. It is the easiest show on this page to book for a party with mixed tastes, and the finale is built to get an audience on its feet.
Tickets and dealsPiccadilly Theatre · 2hr 45min (incl. 1 interval) · from £20
Baz Luhrmann’s film as a glittering stage musical, with pop medleys and a pre-show that starts before the curtain. Be in your seats at least fifteen minutes early, which is worth saying to a party that is still at the bar.
Worth knowing. Age guidance is 12+.
Tickets and dealsVaudeville Theatre · 1hr 20min (no interval) · from £34.50
Six queens, a pop-concert structure and eighty minutes with no interval, which makes it a good first stop before dinner or drinks.
Tickets and dealsCriterion Theatre · Until 3 Jan · 2hr 05min (incl. 1 interval) · from £18.75
Titanic retold through the songs of Celine Dion, loud, quick and thoroughly silly. It won the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play, and it works best with a party that knows the film.
Worth knowing. Recommended for ages 14+, with strong language, sexual references and adult humour. Flashing lights and haze.
Tickets and dealsTrafalgar Theatre · 1hr 20min (no interval) · from £25
Cole Escola’s comedy imagines Mary Todd Lincoln as a foul-tempered, hard-drinking former cabaret star stuck in an unhappy marriage. Eighty minutes, no interval, and a comedy that rewards a party that is happy to be a little shocked.
Worth knowing. Water-based haze and one gunshot.
Tickets and dealsPlayhouse Theatre (Kit Kat Club) · 2hr 45min (incl. 1 interval) · from £31
The Playhouse is turned into the Kit Kat Club, and the evening starts in the foyer, so arrive before the doors open. Table seats beside the stage come with a meal, afternoon tea at matinees or a cocktail and snack package, and there are boxes for parties of four, which makes it easy to turn into a proper night out.
Tickets and dealsThe Arts at Marble Arch · 10 Dec – 7 Mar · 2hr 5min (incl. 1 interval) · from £28
Nine men sing hits by Queen, Adele and Katy Perry in a pub built on the stage. It is a singalong, which suits a party of friends who want to join in rather than sit quietly, and one of the few shows here with no swearing.
Worth knowing. No swearing, but there is on-stage alcohol use and some adult themes.
Tickets and dealsPrince of Wales Theatre · 2hr 30min (incl. 1 interval) · from £20
A very rude and very quick musical comedy, written by the creators of South Park. It suits a stag do that wants to laugh from start to finish rather than be moved.
Worth knowing. Explicit language, strobe lighting, flashing lights and gunshots. Children under 16 must be accompanied by someone aged 18 or over.
Tickets and dealsABBA Arena · 1hr 40min (no interval) · from £40
ABBA as digital avatars with a live band, in a purpose-built arena in Stratford. Dance Floor tickets are general admission and there are seats for anyone in the party who would rather sit, so a large group can split the difference.
Tickets and dealsA show most of a mixed office will enjoy, a group deal, and where there is one a meal or drinks package. Group rates need a minimum party, shown on each, and the bigger the party the lower some of the tiers go.
Playhouse Theatre (Kit Kat Club) · 2hr 45min (incl. 1 interval) · from £31
The one show here built around eating and drinking in the theatre: table seats with a meal or a cocktail and snack package, boxes for four with a meal and champagne, and private packages for larger parties through the Kit Kat Club’s VIP team. It suits an office that wants the dinner and the show in one place.
Worth knowing. Adult themes and a Berlin cabaret setting; read the synopsis if the party is mixed.
Tickets and dealsThe Arts at Marble Arch · 10 Dec – 7 Mar · 2hr 5min (incl. 1 interval) · from £28
A pub on the stage and a set list of songs everyone knows, so it makes a good evening for a party of colleagues who do not know each other well. There is no swearing, which takes some of the risk out of a mixed office.
Worth knowing. No swearing, but there is on-stage alcohol use and some adult themes.
Tickets and dealsPiccadilly Theatre · 2hr 45min (incl. 1 interval) · from £20
A big, glittering crowd-pleaser with a pre-show, which gives a party a reason to arrive together and early.
Worth knowing. Age guidance is 12+. Be in your seats fifteen minutes before the start.
Dinner. A dinner and theatre bundle is listed on the show page.
Tickets and dealsDuchess Theatre · 2hr (incl. 1 interval) · from £20
Slapstick that needs no knowledge of the theatre and offends no one, which is what an office party usually needs. The bigger the party, the lower the rate goes.
Dinner. A dinner and theatre bundle is listed on the show page.
Tickets and dealsNovello Theatre · 2hr 35min (incl. 1 interval) · from £17.50
A show where everyone knows the songs and nobody needs the plot explained, which is as safe as a party choice gets.
Dinner. A dinner and theatre bundle is listed on the show page.
Tickets and dealsVaudeville Theatre · 1hr 50min (incl. 1 interval) · from £21.50
An improvised Jane Austen novel, made up on the night from a title shouted by the audience. It is a different show every evening, which suits a party that wants to laugh more than it wants a story.
Dinner. A dinner and theatre bundle is listed on the show page.
Tickets and dealsHis Majesty's Theatre · 2hr 30min (incl. 1 interval) · from £23
One for a large department: its group rates step down again for bigger parties, and the tiers are in the deal below. A spectacle that suits a party where not everyone is a theatre-goer.
Dinner. A dinner and theatre bundle is listed on the show page.
Tickets and dealsSt Martin's Theatre · 2hr (incl. 1 interval) · from £35
A murder mystery in two hours, with the whole audience sworn to secrecy about the ending. A comfortable choice for a team with a mix of ages.
Tickets and dealsWhere we list a school rate it is shown; where we do not, the show’s group rate is, and the box office can say whether a school rate applies. Schools usually book through the show’s group sales team, and many rates come with one free teacher place for every ten students who pay. Age guidance is the production’s own.
Cambridge Theatre · 2hr 35min (incl. 1 interval) · from £20
A story about a girl, her school and a terrible headmistress, which is why so many teachers choose it. Children follow it easily and the songs are quick.
Worth knowing. Flashing lights, lasers, loud sound effects and balloons popped on stage.
Tickets and dealsLyceum Theatre · 2hr 30min (incl. 1 interval) · from £38
The most visual show in London, with puppets and masks that are worth seeing from the front. Good for a class that has to be kept watching for two and a half hours.
Tickets and dealsSavoy Theatre · 2hr 45min (incl. 1 interval) · from £25
A gentler first theatre trip built around a character children already know.
Tickets and dealsGillian Lynne Theatre · Until 3 Jan · 2hr 30min (incl. 1 interval) · from £13.30
The Studio Ghibli film staged with large puppets. Quieter and stranger than a big musical, so it suits a class that finds the loud ones overwhelming.
Tickets and dealsGielgud Theatre · 2hr 40min (incl. 1 interval) · from £20
Dickens’s orphan story with songs most children half-know already. It does not soften Victorian poverty, which gives a class something to talk about afterwards.
Tickets and dealsApollo Victoria Theatre · 2hr 45min (incl. 1 interval) · from £25
The Wizard of Oz from the witches’ side, a story older primary and lower secondary pupils follow easily, with a first-act finale that lifts the roof.
Tickets and dealsPalace Theatre · From 9 Oct · 2hr 55min (incl. 1 interval) · from £25
The new single-part staging of the play, which removes the need for two sittings, with stage magic done in front of the audience rather than on a screen.
Tickets and dealsVictoria Palace Theatre · 2hr 45min (incl. 1 interval) · from £42
The founding of the United States told through hip-hop and R&B, which suits classes studying either subject. It is long, so choose a matinee if the school has a long journey home.
Worth knowing. Some strong language.
Tickets and dealsVaudeville Theatre · 1hr 20min (no interval) · from £34.50
Eighty minutes, no interval, and the six wives of Henry VIII as a pop concert, which makes it easy to fit into a school day.
Worth knowing. Flashing lights, strobe, haze and loud music, and the script touches on miscarriage and on physical and sexual trauma.
Tickets and dealsNew Wimbledon Theatre · 10 Nov – 14 Nov · from £15.60
Simon Stephens’s play about a boy who sets out to solve a murder and finds much more, a play many schools study. This is a short run at New Wimbledon Theatre rather than a longer London season, so the dates matter.
Worth knowing. Some strong language, at the start and now and then through the play.
Tickets and dealsTroubadour Canary Wharf Theatre · 2hr 35min (incl. 1 interval) · from £35
The first novel staged with a large cast and a good deal of spectacle, for students who have read the books. The production has a groups and education page of its own.
Tickets and dealsThe Arts at Marble Arch · 10 Dec – 7 Mar · 2hr 5min (incl. 1 interval) · from £28
Nine men sing hits by Queen, Adele and Katy Perry in a pub on the stage, a singalong that is easy to enjoy and has no swearing.
Worth knowing. No swearing, but there is on-stage alcohol use and some adult themes.
Tickets and dealsSondheim Theatre · 2hr 50min (incl. 1 interval) · from £25
The longest-running musical in London, set in the Paris of the 1832 uprising. A long evening, and the show’s own page has a section for schools.
Worth knowing. Gunfire, smoke and flashing light effects.
Tickets and dealsShaftesbury Theatre · Until 3 Jan · 2hr 15min (incl. 1 interval) · from £38
A puppet musical about being young and broke, with rude songs sung by actors holding puppets in plain sight. The school rate is for senior students only.
Tickets and dealsTom Stoppard Theatre · from £30
Jonathan Larson’s musical about artists in New York at the height of the AIDS crisis. A school rate is listed, but the subject matter makes it a sixth-form choice, so check the content with the school first.
Worth knowing. Themes of HIV/AIDS, bereavement, drug use, suicide, sex and sex work, strong language, smoking, haze and strobe lighting.
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