Red Bus Londinium Life

A remixed musical version of the much-loved tale takes you to Neverland, with a beatbox and rap twist from the team behind Polka’s Romeo & Juliet.
Dates: 14 November to 24 January 2027
Ages: 5 to 12
Running time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Booking: https://polkatheatre.com/event/peter-pan/

An original family adventure inspired by The Twelve Days of Christmas, following five children chosen by the Turtle Doves to discover the true meaning of love. It has a huge, diverse cast, and every performance includes integrated British Sign Language.
Dates: 18 November to 9 January 2027
Ages: All ages from 5 and above
Running time: 120 minutes
Booking: https://www.chickenshed.org.uk/events/12-days

Benji Davies’ Christmas story returns with puppetry and music, following a snowflake, a little girl and her Pappie as they search for a special place to belong.
Dates: 21 November to 23 January 2027
Ages: 5 and over
Running time: About 50 minutes
Booking: https://www.littleangeltheatre.com/whats-on/the-snowflake/

Hikapee follow three eccentric elves going about their daily lives in the factory, going to extraordinary lengths for seemingly ordinary tasks. Science meets a sprinkling of elf magic in this playful, mischievous show.
Dates: 1 to 6 December 2026
Ages: 5 to 9
Running time: 45 minutes
Booking: https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/events/the-elf-factory/

Arthur Pita’s dance-theatre fable tells Hans Christian Andersen’s story mainly through dance and song, with live music rather than spoken dialogue, in the candlelit setting of Wilton’s.
Dates: 3 December to 2 January 2027
Ages: 5 and over
Running time: 1 hour 20 minutes including an interval
Booking: https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-little-match-girl/wiltons-music-hall/

It’s Christmas Eve and Santa has gone missing, so the Starchitects set off on a daring mission into space to save him, in a dance-circus show from Motionhouse with gravity-defying choreography and digital projections.
Dates: 16 to 23 December 2026
Ages: Open to all ages, best for 5 to 11
Running time: About 1 hour
Booking: https://theplace.org.uk/events/autumn-26-starchitects/

Olivier Award-winning Little Bulb reimagine the story as a magical, musical quest, with not a tutu in sight, as two squabbling siblings try to stop the many-headed Mouse King ruining Christmas.
Dates: 22 December to 3 January 2027
Ages: 5 to 12
Running time: 70 minutes
Booking: https://sohotheatre.com/events/the-nutcracker-and-the-mouse-king/

Matthew Warchus’ big-hearted production of Dickens’ classic returns, with a staging that puts the audience right inside the story.
Dates: 12 November to 9 January 2027
Ages: 8 and over
Running time: 2 hours including an interval
Booking: https://www.oldvictheatre.com/stage/a-christmas-carol-2026/

ZooNation’s hip hop retelling of A Christmas Carol follows a ruthless fashion designer who has cancelled Christmas.
Dates: 24 November to 3 January 2027
Ages: 7 and over
Running time: About 1 hour 55 minutes including a 20 minute interval
Booking: https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/ebony-scrooge-zoonation-2026/

English National Ballet’s Nutcracker follows Clara on a fantastical journey through Edwardian London and beyond, with Tchaikovsky’s score played live.
Dates: 17 December to 10 January 2027
Ages: Officially 5 and over, but children are more likely to enjoy it when they are older than eight, and it is expensive, so Red Bus recommends saving it till then.
Running time: About 2 hours including an interval
Booking: https://londoncoliseum.org/events/nutcracker-2026/

Mischief Theatre, the company behind The Play That Goes Wrong, bring a slapstick disaster version of Dickens’ classic back to the West End.
Dates: 18 December to 23 January 2027
Ages: 8 and over
Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes including an interval
Booking: https://www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk/whats-on/christmas-carol-goes-wrong