Image: Barbican Centre, London
The Barbican is set to present the world premiere of 'Death Note: The Musical' in London, bringing Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s bestselling manga to the stage for a 50-performance run. The production opens at the Barbican Theatre on 30 July 2026 and continues until 12 September 2026, with the venue’s listing describing it as a summer engagement and the Barbican email promoting it as one of its most anticipated theatre offerings.
The source material says the musical is created in collaboration with original producers HoriPro and is produced by HoriPro and Trafalgar Theatre Productions, presented in association with the Barbican. The score is by Tony, Grammy and Emmy nominee Frank Wildhorn, with lyrics by Jack Murphy and a book by Ivan Menchell. The Barbican also gives the show a running time of approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes, including a 20-minute interval, and lists an age guidance of 12-plus, with no under-5s admitted.
'Death Note' has been adapted from a manga that, according to the Barbican, has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. The story centres on brilliant student Light Yagami, who discovers a notebook with the power over life and death. From there, the narrative turns into a battle of wits with the elusive detective L, as Light tries to reshape the world and every name carries consequences. The Barbican frames the musical around the question: if someone had the power over life and death, what would they do?
The cast announced on the Barbican event page includes Xander Pang as Light, Colin Ryan as Detective L and Stephanie Zaharis as Misa Amane. Other named cast members include Telly Leung as Ryuk, Grace Mouat as Rem, Paolo Montalban as Soichiro Yagami, Chloe Saracco as Jerasu and Elsie Buckley as Sayu / Ensemble. The company also includes a large ensemble and swing cast, with the full creative and performance credits set out on the venue page.
The Barbican’s event page also notes several accessible performances during the run. A British Sign Language-interpreted performance is scheduled for 29 August at 2.30pm, an audio-described performance for 1 September at 7.30pm with a touch tour at 6pm, and a captioned performance for 5 September at 2.30pm. The venue’s access information states that access tickets are available from £29, with a free essential companion ticket where needed, and that patrons, members and corporate members have specific booking options and discounts.
The musical sits within a broader Barbican summer and autumn programme that also includes 'Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica', 'Pastoral' by Pam Tanowitz Dance, and 'Hamlet Hail to the Thief'. On the Barbican homepage, 'Death Note' is listed under theatre and dance with the same 30 July to 12 September 2026 dates, while the event page identifies the show as part of the venue’s theatre season and marks it as a members’ theatre priority booking title.
