18 Best Performing Arts in London, England

Opened in 1982, The Barbican is an enormous brutalist concrete maze that Londoners either love or hate—but its importance to the cultural life of the capital is beyond dispute. At the largest performing arts center in Europe, you could listen to Elgar, see 1960s photography, and catch German animation with live accompaniment, all in one day. The main concert hall, known for its acoustics, is most famous as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra. The Barbican is also a frequent host to the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Architecture tours take place several times a week.

Opened in 1959 and now a Soho institution, this three-screen independent cinema runs a vibrant program of first-run arthouse and mainstream films, along with an engaging calendar of director talks, Q&As, film festival events, and other cinephile offerings. The first-floor mezzanine bar is great for a quiet drink, even when Soho's Shaftesbury Avenue is heaving with people. There are other equally historic and wonderful Curzon cinemas in Mayfair, Bloomsbury, and Victoria.

Hollywood stars often perform at this not-for-profit theater in diverse and daring new works, bold interpretations of the classics, and small-scale musicals. Heavy-hitters like Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Ewan McGregor have all graced the stage.

An architectural extravaganza of Edwardian style, this baroque-style theater has a magnificent 2,350-seat auditorium and a rooftop glass dome with a bar and great views. As one of the city's most venerable venues, the Coliseum functions mainly as the home of the English National Opera, which produces innovative opera, sung in English, for lower prices than the nearby Royal Opera House. In recent years the company also has presented musicals, sometimes featuring star opera singers. During opera's off-season (including summertime and during winter holidays), the house hosts the English National Ballet and other troupes. Guided tours offering fascinating insights into the architecture and history of the building take place on selected dates at 11 am.

Along with Milan's La Scala, New York's Metropolitan, and the Palais Garnier in Paris, this is one of the world's great opera houses. First established in 1732, the Royal Opera House has staged countless spectacular performances during its illustrious history, while recent shows have tended toward a more contemporary repertoire. Whatever the style, the extravagant 2,250-seat auditorium delivers a serious dose of gilt and glamour. The famed Royal Ballet performs classical and contemporary repertoire here, too, and smaller-scale works of both opera and dance are presented in the Linbury Theatre and Clore Studio. A small allocation of tickets for each performance of main stage productions for the week ahead—even those that are sold out—goes on sale online at 1 pm every Friday.

If you wish to see the famed auditorium but are not able to procure a ticket, you can join a backstage tour or one of the less frequent tours of the auditorium; they book up several weeks in advance.

If you're into leading classical and contemporary dance companies, head to this purpose-built complex, which opened in 1998 and is the sixth theater on this site in its 300-year history. Choreographers like Matthew Bourne and Hofesh Shechter often bring their work here. The smaller Lilian Baylis Studio hosts avant-garde work.

The general public has never really warmed to the Southbank Centre's hulking concrete buildings (beloved by architecture aficionados), products of the brutalist style popular when the center was built in the 1950s and '60s—but all the same, the masses flock to the concerts, recitals, festivals, and exhibitions held here, the largest arts center in Europe. The Royal Festival Hall is truly a People's Palace, with seats for 2,900 and a schedule that ranges from major symphony orchestras to pop stars. The smaller Queen Elizabeth Hall is more classically oriented. It contains the Purcell Room, which hosts lectures and chamber performances. For art, head to the Hayward Gallery, which hosts shows on top contemporary artists such as Antony Gormley and Cy Twombly. The center's riverside street level has a terrific assortment of restaurants and bars, though many are branches of upscale chains. Friday through Sunday, a street food market with food trucks serves cuisines from around the world.

London’s most beautiful venue for chamber music also happens to boast near-perfect acoustics. The hall has a rich history, including hosting the premieres of a number of works by the British composer Benjamin Britten, and today attracts leading ensembles from all over the world. The varied program contains lunchtime and Sunday morning concerts plus workshops, as well as concerts for babies and toddlers.

The British Film Institute's glazed, drum-shaped IMAX theater has the largest screen in the United Kingdom (approximately 75 feet wide and the height of five double-decker buses). It shows state-of-the-art 2-D and 3-D films.

The history of this treasure of a theater is drama in its own right. Charlie Chaplin is said to have appeared at Hackney Empire during its days as a thriving variety theater and music hall in the early 1900s. The venue now hosts traditional family entertainment and variety shows, opera, music, musical theater, dance, and drama, often with a multicultural slant. Its annual Christmas pantomime show is legendary.

Innovative puppetry performances for children and adults have been taking place in this adorable former temperance hall since 1961.

Come November, international jazz superstars rub shoulders with emerging local talent and cutting-edge bands at dozens of venues across the city during the 10 days of the London Jazz Festival. A varied program of around 350 performances, including free concerts and gigs for toddlers, means both jazz connoisseurs and those new to the genre will find plenty to enjoy.

Works by Shakespeare have been performed here every summer (from mid-May to mid-September) since 1932, with casts including luminaries such as Vivien Leigh, Dame Judi Dench, and Damien Lewis. Today, in addition to live music and comedy one-offs, the theater also mounts productions of classic plays, Broadway musicals, and shows for family audiences among its four annual productions. A Midsummer Night's Dream is the one to catch, if it's on—never has that enchanted Greek wood been better evoked, especially when enhanced by genuine birdsong and a rising moon.

There's a covered restaurant for pretheater dining, an informal grill, a pizzeria, and, of course, a bar. You also can order picnic hampers in advance. The park can get chilly, so bring a blanket. Performances proceed rain or shine (umbrellas aren't allowed although rain hats are), with refunds only in case of a very heavy downpour.

In summer, well-loved operas and imaginative productions of lesser-known works are presented under a spectacular canopy against the remains of Holland House, one of the first great houses built in Kensington. The company has successfully branched out into opera for families in recent years, too. There are 1,000 tickets offered free to those ages 7–18 every season. Tickets go on general sale in April (earlier for members). After the opera season is over in August, the venue hosts under-the-stars showings of recent movies on a giant screen.

One of the oldest cinemas in the country, this refurbished Portobello Road art house screens mainstream and international movies. The emphasis is on comfort, with leather sofas, armchairs, side tables for your wine and appetizers, cashmere blankets, and even double beds in the front row.

This quirky two-screen repertory film theater just north of Leicester Square and on the edge of Chinatown offers you a chance to catch up with indie arthouse films, documentaries, and even classic blockbusters you may have missed. A second screen upstairs shows newer movies at more typical West End prices. With 300 velvet seats, this is where London's "Singalong Screenings" took off; come in character and sing along to the likes of The Sound of Music, Grease, Dirty Dancing, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and other cult classics.

Running from April to throughout the summer, Underbelly offers a packed calendar of stand-up comedy, cabaret, and circus from its pop-up location in Cavendish Square, just north of Oxford Street. The range of shows caters to all ages, from family-friendly daytime events to risqué after-hours parties. Shows take place in a self-contained, inflatable, cow-shaped venue (hence the name of the festival). Tickets can be purchased in advance or on the day. There's also a sister festival in Earl's Court.

Dedicated to innovative work for young audiences, this modern theater hosts plays, musicals, and interactive theater for everyone from toddlers to preteens. Inclusivity is a major focus, with performances for those with visual and hearing and other impairments taking place regularly.