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He’s a showstopper! Joe Locke will make his West End debut in the UK premier of Clarkson by Samuel D. Hunter. The play will be directed by Jack Serio, and have a strictly limited run in the West End this autumn. Locke will share the stage with Ruaridh Mollica and Sophie Melville.
Locke rose to fame for his role in Heartstopper, where he stars as one of the two main leads, Charlie, along with Marvel’s Agatha All Along. He made his Broadway debut as Tobias in Sweeney Todd alongside Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford — and later, Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster — last season.
“Samuel D. Hunter’s writing is so deeply human and honest that I immediately connected with the play when I read it,” Locke said in a statement. “I can’t wait to bring this beautiful story to life and share it with audiences in London.”
Clarkson is a modern frontier story that blazes a trail through friendship, acceptance, love and the hope of new discoveries. It tells the story of Jake, who goes on a journey to rediscover himself. Along the way, he meets Chris, who is hiding in a night shift at a Costco in rural America. Together, they try to find a way to give life new meaning.
“This play draws from themes of the vast and isolated American West and the colonial past of the United States, but it's fundamentally a story about love and friendship in the midst of an unknown future, which is a pretty universal story these days,” playwright Hunter said in a statement.
Hunter will also be making his Broadway debut this fall with Little Bear Ridge Road opening at the Booth Theatre under director Joe Mantello. Hunter received a MacArthur “Genius” Grant in 2014, and has been harked as one of the nation’s strongest playwrights. He has written plays including The Whale, which was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film, A Bright New Boise, Greater Clements, and A Case for the Existence of God, among others. He is a native of Idaho.
Clarkson will open in the West End this fall. Tickets and more information will be released soon. For updates, visit here.
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Boo! The stage adaptation of the Paranormal Activity films will haunt the West End beginning Dec. 5. The production will transfer to the Ambassadors Theatre after a critically acclaimed run at Leeds Playhouse last summer. It will also begin a North American tour visiting the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre; Center Theatre Group, Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles; Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington DC, and American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.
Immersive theatre pioneer Felix Barrett will direct the production. Barrett is the founder and artistic director of Punchdrunk, the immersive theatre company behind acclaimed immersive shows like Sleep No More and the recent Viola’s Room at The Shed. This adaptation of Paranormal Activity is written by Levi Holloway, the author behind last season’s Broadway thriller Grey House.
“From seeing the advertising campaign of the film twenty years ago, where you watched cinema audiences leap out of their chairs in horror, I have long wondered how you could recreate that visceral reaction in a theatre setting,” Barrett said in a statement. “How do you bring one of the most frightening films to life? How do you break the inherent safety that a plush West End theatre offers? It’s been an incredible challenge, and we cannot wait to see how London audiences respond!”
The show tells the story of James and Lou, who move from Chicago to London to escape their past. They quickly discover that places aren’t haunted; people are. It reimagines the modern ghost story through an atmosphere of creeping dread, unseen forces, and psychological tension.
Paranormal Activity opens in the Ambassadors Theatre on the West End Dec. 5, 2025. Tickets go on sale July 9, 2025, at noon. For tickets and more information, visit here.
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“This could be the start of something new.” The first UK non-replica production of High School Musical is coming to The Lyric Theatre at Lowry next summer. The theatre will be transformed into a basketball court with seating on stage and an extended stage. The production will run Aug. 21, 2026 until Sept. 13, 2026.
High School Musical is based on the cult classic Disney Channel film of the same name. 20 years after the iconic movie, the show will come back to the UK co-directed by Hope Mill Theatre founders Joseph Houston and William Whelton. It features a book by David Simpatico with music adapted, arranged and produced by Bryan Louiselle. This production is produce by Hope Mill Theatre with Lowry.
Through immersive staging, audiences will be transported to East High, where star athlete Troy Bolton falls for the nerdy Gabriella Montez at a holiday party. When they get back to school, they audition for the upcoming school musical, while the jealous starlette Sharpay Evans tries to squash their ambitions. The pair tries to balance this new world along with Troy’s dedication to the basketball team and Gabriella’s to the academic decathlon. Featuring iconic songs like Breaking Free, We’re All In This Together, Get’cha Head in the Game, Stick to the Status Quo, audiences will get to relive the best of their high school days.
Further creatives and casting will be announced at a later date.
High School Musical had its world premiere production at Stagedoor Manor Summer Theatre Camp in 2006. It then went to The Theatre of Stars in Atlanta, Georgia for its first professional staging before Disney Theatrical staged a national tour in 2007. The musical has enjoyed success in regional theatres around the world and had its London premiere at the Hammersmith Apollo Theatre in January 2008.
High School Musical runs Aug. 21 to Sept. 13, 2026 at The Lyric Theatre at Lowry in Salford. Tickets go on sale to the general public on July 18. For tickets and more information, visit here.
