What to See on London Stages This Winter

London theater keeps busy all year round, even during the supposed dog days of January, when other theater capitals are in the doldrums. Try telling that to the creatives who are keeping theaters busy in the coming weeks and months, with new openings, anticipated returns of favorite productions and lots to discover Off West End.

Bringing back the Bard

The Merchant of Venice 1936

This rewrite of Shakespeare’s play, displaced to London’s East End in the 1930s, returns for its third London engagement, with Tracy-Ann Oberman reprising the role of Shylock. In this iteration, Antonio, the merchant of the title, is an Oswald Mosley-style fascist who coerces Shylock to convert to Christianity. Joseph Millson, fresh from starring in “The Forsyte Saga” across town, plays Antonio this time around. Runs through Jan. 25 at the Trafalgar Theater, then touring.

Richard II

Jonathan Bailey may have hit the big time as the smooth-talking Fiyero in the movie adaptation of “Wicked,” but the Olivier Award winner for “Company” hasn’t forgotten his theatrical roots. From February, he will be seen in the title role of “Richard II” at the Bridge Theater, directed by Nicholas Hytner, who also oversaw Bailey (playing Cassio) in a 2013 production of “Othello” at the National Theater. The supporting cast at the Bridge includes such stage veterans as Michael Simkins and Amanda Root. Runs Feb. 10 through May 10 at the Bridge Theater.

Cymbeline

Compared with Shakespeare’s best-known works, this late play is rarely staged, which should ramp up interest in Jennifer Tang’s production for the candlelit, indoor theater at Shakespeare’s Globe. Gabrielle Brooks, recently seen outdoors at the same address in “The Comedy of Errors,” stars as the openhearted Innogen, while Martina Laird plays her father, the British monarch of the title. Be prepared for severed heads and characters who seem to be dead but, in fact, are not. In repertory Jan. 10 through April 20 at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.