Shrek The Musical Tickets - Theatre Royal Drury Lane

The show begins with Shrek telling the audience of his childhood, and how, on his seventh birthday, his parents send him out of their house and into the world to make his own living. They warn him that because of his looks, everyone will hate him, and he will not have a happy ending. Princess Fiona then interrupts the story and we see into her childhood, before Shrek slams the book shut claiming there has been a "techinal hitch". Later, an embittered, and hardened Shrek is living contentedly alone in a swamp ("Big Bright Beautiful World").

Shrek's solitude is disrupted when all the fairy-tale beings of the land begin to show up on his property, including Pinocchio, Peter Pan, the Ugly Duckling and the Three Bears. They all tell of their exile from the Kingdom of Duloc, by order of the diminutive Lord Farquaad ("Story of My Life"). Shrek decides to travel to see Lord Farquaad to try to regain his privacy with much encouragement from Pinocchio and the rest of gang ("The Goodbye Song"). Along the way, Shrek reluctantly rescues a talkative Donkey from some of Farquaad's goons. Donkey insists on tagging along, and makes Shrek see that they are more alike than he thinks.

Meanwhile, Lord Farquaad is busy torturing Gingy into revealing the whereabouts of the princess he wishes to marry to become king. The cookie reveals that the beautiful Princess Fiona is currently trapped in a castle surrounded by lava and is guarded by a fire-breathing dragon.Lord Farquaad rushes out to prepare for the wedding, before Gingy who is subsequently taken out to the swamp can tell him what happens to Fiona at night.

Shrek and Donkey arrive in Duloc and make their way to Farquaad's palace. Farquaad himself performs a musical number to his people ("Welcome to Duloc" / "What's Up, Duloc?"). Shrek and Donkey approach Lord Farquaad.who is Impressed with the size and appearance of the ogre, and demands that Shrek undertakes the rescue mission, and in return, Farquaad promises he will give Shrek back his swamp.

So Shrek and Donkey set off to find the princess. As they discuss the tale of the damsel-in-distress, the story goes back to a seven-year-old Princess Fiona, dreaming of the brave shining knight in armour who, her storybooks tell her, will one day rescue her from the tower, and end her mysterious curse with "True Love's First Kiss". As she grows into a teenager, and then into a headstrong woman, she becomes a little bit stir-crazy and bi-polar, but she ever never loses her faith in her fairy tales ("I Know It's Today"). The two unlikely friends set off to find Fiona, with Shrek becoming increasingly irritated with the chatterbox Donkey as time progresses ("Travel Song"). After crossing the rickety old bridge and arriving at the castle, Shrek sets off on his own to rescue Fiona while Donkey encounters a ferocious female Dragon who initially wants to eat him, but then wants to keep him for her own after Donkey manages to use his charm on her ("Forever"). When Shrek finds Fiona, his lack of interest in playing out her desired, romantic rescue scene annoys her, and Shrek has no choice but to drag her off by force. The two of them reunite with Donkey and all three then attempt to escape while being chased by a very angry Dragon.

Shrek traps the Dragon and they get to safe land ("This Is How A Dream Comes True"). Fiona then insists that Shrek reveal his identity and is appalled that her rescuer is not the Prince Charming her stories indicate but an ogre.  Shrek explains that he is merely her champion and instead, she is to wed Lord Farquaad. The trio begins their long journey back to Farquaad's palace, but Fiona becomes apprehensive as the sun begins to set. She insists that they rest for the night and that she spend the night, alone, in a nearby cave. Donkey and Shrek remain vey much awake, and Donkey, delighted at being referred to by Fiona as a "noble steed," asks Shrek who he would be, if he did not have to be an ogre anymore. As Shrek opens up to his newfound friend, Fiona, transformed into an ogress, and stands apart and alone in the moonlight and listens ("Who I'd Be").

Act Two

Princess Fiona rises early the next day and sings with a bluebird and dances with a deer (before making the bird explode and throwing the deer off a cliff) and manages to assist a Pied Piper in his rat-charming duties ("Morning Person"). Shrek brings down her mood by giving subtle hints about her groom-to-be ("Men of Farquaad's stature are in short supply", "He's very good at small talk", etc.) and mocking her tragic childhood circumstances. The two then begin a contest of one-upmanship, each trying to outdo the other by revealing their respective pasts ("I Think I Got You Beat"). Both admit to being thrown out by their parents which connects them together, giving them a bond and kindles a friendship.

Meanwhile, back in Duloc, Lord Farquaad is planning his wedding, and reveals his own sordid heritage after Thelonius insists that Farquaad should invite his father ("The Ballad of Farquaad"). As Shrek and Fiona's newfound camaraderie begins to grow into love, Donkey insists, with the help of the Three Blind Mice, that Shrek should gather his courage and romantically engage Fiona ("Make a Move"). Shrek, finally beginning to come out of his caustic, and protective shell, tries to find the words to explain his feelings to Fiona ("When Words Fail").

While Shrek is out looking for a flower for Fiona, Donkey discovers that Fiona turns into an ogress at night time, and Fiona confesses that she was cursed as a child, which is why she was locked away in the tower. Only a kiss from her true love will return her to her proper form. Shrek arrives near the end of the conversation and misunderstands Fiona's description of herself as an ugly beast to be reference to him. Shrek is hurt by her presumed opinion and storms off. The next day, transformed back to her human form, Fiona decides to tell Shrek about her curse ("Morning Person (reprise)") but when Fiona tries to explain, Shrek rebuffs her.

During the night, Shrek was contacted by Lord Farquaad, who now arrives to claim Princess Fiona. While not very impressed with Farquaad, Fiona agrees to marry him but insists that they have the wedding before sunset. As they ride back to Duloc, Donkey tries to explain the misunderstanding to Shrek who is too angry to listen, and Shrek rejects him as well, declaring that he will return alone to his swamp.

All the fairy tale creatures, now headed for a landfill which is to be their new home, decide that Farquaad's treatment of them is intolerable. Just because they are all freaks does not mean they deserve to be hated. Gingy, Pinocchio and the others gather a new confidence and strength in themselves as they declare they will raise their "Freak Flag" high against their tormentors ("Freak Flag").

Shrek returns to his again-private swamp, but finds that he misses Fiona. Donkey follows him back, and convinces Shrek of his friendship by managing to forgive the ogre for his harsh words. Shrek then apologizes, and Donkey convinces him that Fiona really does care for the ogre. Both of them hurry back to Duloc where Shrek interrupts the wedding before Farquaad can kiss Fiona, and Fiona convinces him to let Shrek speak with her. Shrek finally manages to find the words to express his feelings for Fiona, and he declares his undying love for her ("Big Bright Beautiful World (reprise)") however, his declaration of love is mocked by Lord Farquaad.

 Caught between love and her great desire to break the curse, Fiona tries to escape the event, but the exiled fairy tale beings storm into the wedding and protest their banishment. They are accompanied by a grumpy little dwarf, who is, in fact, Lord Farquaad's father. Farquaad claimed earlier that Grumpy abandoned him in the woods as a child, but the dwarf reveals the true reason he kicked Farquaad out was that he was, in fact, 28 years old and wouldn't move out of his basement. During the argument, the sun sets, causing Fiona to turn into an ogress in front of everyone. Lord Farquaad is furious and disgusted over the change, and orders that Shrek be killed and Fiona banished back to her tower. As Farquaad proclaims himself the new king, Shrek whistles and summons the Dragon who has now escaped the castle, who crashes through the window with Donkey and destroys Farquaad.

 Admitting their love for each other, Shrek and Fiona share a kiss. Fiona's curse is suddenly broken and she takes her true form which turns out to be an ogress. At first, she is ashamed of her looks, but Shrek declares that she is still beautiful. Shrek and Fiona go off and begin a new life together, as everyone celebrates what makes them special ("This Is Our Story"). and hey all live happily ever after ("I'm a Believer").

Theatre tickets to all performances of Shrek The Musical at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London are available to book securely through thiswebsite

The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London is a west end theatre situated in Covent Garden in the City of Westminster.

The theatre faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663, making it the oldest theatre in London. For its first two centuries, the Drury Lane could "reasonably have claimed to be London's leading theatre" and thus one of the most important in the English-speaking world. For most of that time, it was one of a handful of patent theatres, granted monopoly rights to the production of "legitimate" drama in London (meaning spoken plays, rather than opera, dance, concerts, or plays with music)

The first theatre on the location was built at the behest of Thomas Killigrew in the early years of the English Restoration. Actors appearing at this "Theatre Royal in Bridges Street" included Nell Gwyn and Charles Hart. The theatre was destroyed by fire in 1672 and Killigrew built a larger theatre in the same spot, designed by Sir Christopher Wren and renamed the "Theatre Royal in Drury Lane," it opened in 1674.

This building lasted nearly 120 years, under leadership including Colley Cibber, David Garrick, and Richard Brinsley Sheridan.  The great Ulster Shakespearian Charles Macklinperformed in the theatre in 1791under the management of Sheridan, The building was demolished to make way for a larger theatre which opened in 1794. This enormous new Drury Lane survived just 15 years before burning down in 1809. The building that stands today opened in 1812. It has been home to actors as diverse as Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean, child actress Clara Fisher comedian Dan Leno the comedy tream of Monty Python (who recorded a concert album there).  Today, the theatre is owned by composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber and generally stages popular west end musicals.  The Theatre Royal Drury Lane is a Grade I listed building. 

The Theatre Royal Drury Lane has been called one of the world's most haunted theatres.The appearance of almost any one of the handful of ghosts that are said to frequent the theatre signals good luck for both an actor or production. The most famous ghost is the "Man in Grey", who appears dressed as a nobleman of the late 18th century: powdered hair beneath a tricone hat, a dress jacket and cloak or cape, riding boots and a sword. Legend has it that the Man in Grey is the ghost of a knife-stabbed man whose skeletal remains were found within a walled-up side passage in 1848.

The ghosts of Irish actor Charles Macklin and clown Joe Grimaldi are also supposed to haunt the theatre. Macklin appears backstage, wandering the corridor which now stands in the spot where, in 1735, he killed fellow actor Thomas Hallam in an argument over a wig. ("Goddamn you for a blackguard, scrub, rascal!" he shouted, thrusting a cane into Hallam's face and piercing his left eye^.  Joe Grimaldi is a helpful apparition, purportedly guiding nervous actors skillfully about the stage on more than one occasion.

The current production at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane is Shrek The Musical.

Theatre tickets to all performances at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London are available to purchase securely through this website.