Updated for 2026. Shows close, shows transfer, shows come back under new direction — but a handful of productions have been quietly running away with West End history. Here are the ten longest-running shows currently playing in London, in order.
Performance totals are those published by SOLT to end of July 2026.
1. THE MOUSETRAP (1952 – still running)
St Martin’s Theatre • 30,642+ performances
Agatha Christie’s murder mystery opened in 1952 and has never stopped. It’s been at St Martin’s Theatre since 1974, and it holds the title not just for the West End but for the longest continuously-running theatrical production anywhere in the world. The original rights still say the film adaptation can’t be released until the play has closed in the West End for six months. Film producers have been waiting a very long time.
2. LES MISÉRABLES (1985 – still running)
Sondheim Theatre • 16,189+ performances
Based on the Victor Hugo novel and composed by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Les Mis has been on the West End for more than four decades. It transferred from the Queen’s Theatre (now the Sondheim) when the venue was renamed in 2019 and is still playing eight shows a week. If you’ve never done the One Day More singalong at the finale, you’re missing out on one of the great West End moments.
3. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1986 – still running)
His Majesty’s Theatre • 15,897+ performances
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom turned 40 in the West End in 2026 — a milestone no one would have predicted when it first opened at Her Majesty’s (as it was then). It’s still playing in the same building, still with the chandelier, still at the beating heart of what people picture when they picture the West End.
4. MAMMA MIA! (1999 – still running)
Novello Theatre • 27 years in London
The ABBA jukebox musical that no one expected to last six months is now in its 27th West End year. It transferred to the Novello Theatre in 2012 from the Prince of Wales and has been there ever since. There are two films, a touring production, a party version at the O2 — but the original West End production is still the one.
5. THE LION KING (1999 – still running)
Lyceum Theatre • 27 years in London
Disney’s theatrical reimagining of the 1994 film opened at the Lyceum in October 1999 and climbed into the top five after Blood Brothers closed. Julie Taymor’s puppet-and-mask staging is still, more than two decades later, one of the most jaw-dropping opening numbers in London theatre. Take someone who’s never seen it and watch their face when the elephants arrive.
6. WICKED (2006 – still running)
Apollo Victoria Theatre • 20 years in London
Wicked passed its 20th birthday in the West End in 2026 and remains at the Apollo Victoria. With the two Wicked films bringing a new generation of fans to Oz, the stage show has been riding a wave of renewed interest. Elphaba’s belt in Defying Gravity still gets the loudest cheer of any show currently playing.
7. MATILDA THE MUSICAL (2011 – still running)
Cambridge Theatre • 15 years in London
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, hit its 15th anniversary in 2026. Still winning Oliviers, still rotating a cast of brilliant child performers through the title role, and still one of the funniest shows in London. If you haven’t taken a child under 10 to see it yet, do.
8. THE BOOK OF MORMON (2013 – still running)
Prince of Wales Theatre • 13 years in London
The South Park / Avenue Q team’s satirical musical arrived in London in 2013 and climbed four places up the all-time list between 2024 and 2026. Still ferociously funny, still not safe for young children, and still essentially sold out for every performance. Book early.
9. THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG (2014 – still running)
Duchess Theatre • 12 years in London
Mischief Theatre’s runaway hit has settled into the Duchess Theatre and quietly entered the all-time West End top 20 for the first time in 2026. It’s the only production in this list that started as an Edinburgh Fringe show, and it still feels like one — a bit raw, a bit anarchic, and the loudest laughs in the West End.
10. HAMILTON (2017 – still running)
Victoria Palace Theatre • 9 years in London • 2,991+ performances
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s cultural-reset musical opened in London at the Victoria Palace in late 2017 and is now closing in on the all-time musical top 20. The West End production has introduced a generation of new stars (Jamael Westman, Karl Queensborough, Billy Nevers) and is still packing the house every night.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Six has racked up 2,830+ performances at the Vaudeville Theatre since 2019 and is tipped to break into the musical top 20 next year. Keep an eye on that one.
THE CLASSICS WE LOST
Not every long-runner survives — Blood Brothers (24 years) closed in 2012, Starlight Express (18 years) in 2002, The Woman in Black (33 years as a play) closed in 2023, and Thriller Live (11 years) was a casualty of the pandemic. All of them loved. All of them missed.
Want to see any of the above? I’d book sooner rather than later for the ones playing — these productions do close, and when they do, the goodbye is always sooner than you’d expect.