Learn more about these productions starring real-life couples and family members

From a Michael Jackson musical to a Bach drama, these close-knit casts are keeping it in the family.

There is a long and proud history of great acting dynasties, from the Barrymore family to the Redgraves. Audiences experience a particular charge when seeing relatives on stage together, such as in 1990 when real-life siblings (and their dad) Sinéad, Soarcha, Niamh and Cyril Cusack co-starred in a memorable production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters.

That tradition has continued on, with father and son Edward and Freddie Fox playing Oscar Wilde’s bickering patriarch and child in An Ideal Husband, while Judi Dench and Finty Williams echoed their mother/daughter relationship in The Vote. Husband and wife Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker played multiple couples in the hit comedy Plaza Suite only last year.

It’s also a family affair in several current and upcoming London productions, from the Michael Jackson musical to a riveting drama about Bach. Learn more about these casts with real kinship.

The Score

Succession star Brian Cox is back on stage in a towering performance as JS Bach in Oliver Cotton’s drama, which is now in the West End following its acclaimed debut in Bath. The play centres on the devoutly religious composer’s battle with the godless Prussian ruler Frederick the Great.

Cotton also illuminates Bach’s home life, and it is here that Cox’s warm and genuine chemistry with his actual wife, Nicole Ansari-Cox, proves such an asset to the show. She plays Bach’s devoted second wife Anna; together, the pair create palpable theatrical harmony.

Book The Score tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Mrs Warren’s Profession

Imelda Staunton follows up her thrilling return to musical theatre in Hello, Dolly! with another exciting prospect. For the first time ever, she will share the stage with Bessie Carter, her daughter with Downton Abbey’s Jim Carter, in Mrs Warren’s Profession, coming to the Garrick Theatre this summer.

This new production of George Bernard Shaw’s resonant play reunites Staunton with her Follies and Hello, Dolly! director Dominic Cooke. She will play wealthy brothel owner Mrs Kitty Warren, while Carter is her rebellious daughter Vivie. It promises to ask pertinent questions about women’s roles in society.

Book Mrs Warren’s Profession tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

MJ The Musical

This explosive Michael Jackson bio-musical already revolves around family. A key part of the story is the singer reflecting on his upbringing: working with his brothers in the Jackson 5, his relationships with his demanding father and supportive mother, and the difficult decision to strike out on his own.

Adding a fun real-life twist to the current West End production is the fact that two brothers, Ashley and Mitchell Zhangazha, are among the lead cast: Ashley plays MJ’s dad Joseph, and younger brother Mitchell plays Michael. That true family connection? You can’t beat it!

Book MJ The Musical tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Three Sisters

There seems to be something about this Chekhov play that attracts real-life dynasties. Following on from the Cusacks, the gorgeously atmospheric revival at the candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse now stars a married couple: the theatre’s artistic director Michelle Terry and her husband Paul Ready.

Terry plays eldest sister Olga, the stoic but increasingly worn-down schoolteacher, while Ready is the philosophising soldier Vershinin, who begins an affair with Olga’s sister Masha. (The pair have previously played Lord and Lady Macbeth.) It adds to the extraordinary emotional impact of this exquisite production.

Book Three Sisters tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

ABBA Voyage

OK, this is cheating slightly, but you do get not just one but two couples in this fabulous unique experience – albeit in their “ABBA-tar” form. The iconic original members of the Swedish band, Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, take to the stage together again thanks to cutting-edge technology.

Of course, Agnetha used to be married to Björn, and Benny to Anni-Frid, their love – and eventual heartbreak – fuelling stone-cold pop classics such as “Dancing Queen”, “Knowing Me, Knowing You”, “Mamma Mia”, and “The Winner Takes It All”. This extraordinary reunion will make you want to say thank you for the music, all over again.

Book ABBA Voyage tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credits: Manuel Harlan, Johann Person