Theatre of 2024 - 10 Favourite Productions

 

Till the Stars Come Down, NT
(Photo: Manuel Harlan)

The National Theatre started the year with one of its strongest shows: Bijan Sheibani's glorious production of Beth Steel's Till the Stars Come Down, set during an East Midlands Anglo-Polish wedding. Steel's play is another three sisters' story in essence, but a fresh and rich one, as the disappointments, hopes and fears of Sinéad Matthews' bride, and Lisa McGrillis and Lucy Black as her siblings, gradually come into focus. Firmly rooted in community and time but with a touch of cosmic magic besides, and playing out on a mirrorballed set by Samal Black that made the audience the wedding reception guests, Steel's play was laugh-out-loud funny (take a bow, Lorraine Ashbourne's peerless Auntie Carol), huge-hearted, sharply perceptive and, in its final stretch, unafraid of big emotions. Review here. 

Dear Octopus, NT
(Photo: Marc Brenner)

Another NT highlight was another ensemble family play, Dodie Smith's 1938 Dear Octopus - one of a more sedate vintage but rendered equally vivid and involving in Emily Burns' beautiful staging. The production worked by playing the text, with its old-fashioned surface but ever-relevant ambivalence about family, absolutely straight and without gimmicks, allowing the cast plenty of space; a performance of rare and magical translucence from Lindsay Duncan as the fussy but insightful and, it turns out, adaptable matriarch, was one standout of many. 

Roots, Almeida 
(Photo: Marc Brenner)

Adorable as the son in Dear Octopus, Billy Howle had a great year on stage (not that anyone except Lloyd Evans seemed to notice), delivering a compelling Jimmy Porter in  Look Back in Anger at the Almeida and adding a hilarious supporting performance to the theatre's cross-cast Roots - in which  Morfydd Clark shone as Beatie. An hour shorter than the leisurely Donmar production of 2013, director Diyan Zora took the action of Arnold Wesker's play at a clip but didn't stint on nuance or emotion. 

Nye, NT
(Photo: Johan Persson)

The founding of the NHS was  dramatised in two memorable shows this year. Nye, in Rufus Norris' production, had some of the forced larkiness characteristic of the director and didn't always do Tim Price's writing justice. (For Salt Root and Roe alone, I'll be Price's fan forever.) But there were potent moments throughout, and, back on the Olivier after his great turn in Lindsey Turner's pandemic-period Under Milk Wood, Michael Sheen gave another performance as robust as it was detailed.

The Human Body, Donmar
(Photo: Marc Brenner)

Concerned, among many other things, with the impact of the NHS on 'ordinary' lives rather than just those of policymakers, Lucy Kirkwood's  excellent The Human Body premiered at the Donmar with Keeley Hawes as the GP and budding MP reckoning with difficult personal and professional choices, as she gets sidetracked by an affair with Jack Davenport's returned-from-Hollywood actor. Paying tribute to 1940s British cinema (especially Brief Encounter), the intricate production, with its brilliantly multi-rolling cast and live filming, offered a rich portrait of post-WWII Britain, as well as an elegant farewell to the Donmar from Artistic Director Michael Longhurst (here co-directing with Ann Yee). 

Bluets, Royal Court
(Photo: Camilla Greenwood) 

Expressive live filming was also a key component of Bluets, in which Katie Mitchell made Maggie Nelson's highly interior, by turns perceptive and pretentious, text into a meditation on grief and loss for three performers, delivered to perfection here by Ben Whishaw, Kayla Meikle, and Emma D'Arcy. 

Twelfth Night, Orange Tree
(Photo: Ellie Kurttz)

Of what I saw at the Orange Tree this year, Trevor Nunn's widely praised Uncle Vanya - poorly designed, miscast and generally overacted - seemed much too generously received, but Tom Littler closed the year on a high note with a fantastic chamber Twelfth Night - a jewel of a production, with glittering performances from a cast including Jane Asher, Patricia Allison and Oliver Ford Davies, plus Stefan Bednarczyk's piano-playing master-of-revels Feste and Clive Francis again revealing himself as something of a comedy genius.  

Long Day's Journey into Night, Wyndham's
(Photo: Johan Persson)

Underwhelming reviews greeted several starry West End revivals this year - probably deservedly in most cases, but not when it came to Jeremy Herrin's loving and beautifully pitched production of Eugene O'Neill's great family play. I saw it twice, and the performances of Brian Cox, Patricia Clarkson, Daryl McCormack and Laurie Kyanston deepened to find fresh textures in the relationships each time. The traditional approach of Herrin's production was even more appreciated after witnessing the utter travesty that Luk Perceval's staging, from Kraków's Helena Modrzejewska National Old Theatre, made of the play, which it didn't seem to understand at even the most basic level. 

Beze mine jesteś nikim, Teatr Nowy
(Photo: HaWa)

Along with a misbegotten musicalised version of The Secret Garden at Teatr Nowy, Perceval's production was by far the worst thing I saw on a stage in 2025. But, these disappointments aside, there was of course some fine work on Polish stages too. Nowy redeemed itself thoroughly with Agata Biziuk's production Beze mnie jesteś nikim  (Without Me You're Nothing), a penetrating exploration of domestic violence based on Jacek Holub's reporting, accomplished with cast of four and a haunting theatrical vision. 

What's Demeter?, Teatr CHOREA 
(Photo: Agnieszka Cytacka)

And, under the Festival theme of "Awakenings," Teatr CHOREA celebrated its 20th anniversary in inimitable style at Retroperspektywy with What's Demeter? - an exhilarating rollercoaster ride through two decades of risk-taking performances that also worked as a cohesive experience in its own right. An evening of multiple awakenings, indeed. (Report on the Festival here.) 

Also: Burza (The Tempest) (Teatr Jaracza) The Ballad of Hattie and James (Kiln), Hotel ZNP (Nowy), Hic Sunt Dracones (Retroperspektywy Festival)

Hic Sunt Dracones
(Photo: Agnieszka Cytacka)

Preview: Danny is Fantastic (Arch 21, Valentia Place, Brixton)

 

It's lovely news that Daniel Cerqueira's very special solo show Danny is Fantastic is back at Arch 21, Valentia Place, Brixton for performances on 20 March, 21 March, 22 March. 

Danny is Fantastic was one of the best shows I saw last year, and I wrote about it here. The thing about the show, though, is that it's never the same night after night: it's "so live", in Cerqueira's wry words, and so influenced by the audience's presence, that it's a unique event each time. 

It's theatre as a present tense, in-the-moment, intimate experience: the opposite of the internet, the opposite of constant distraction. Cerqueira quietly creates such a warm and inclusive atmosphere that you come out feeling connected and inspired.

Go with some friends or go alone and maybe make some new ones. You can expect songs and stories and poems and fairy lights and readings and reminiscences, and you can leave a "remnant" of yourself behind afterwards. It's a gorgeous evening. 

For more info, go here.

Best Theatre and Live Perfomances Seen in 2023

 

Marek Pospieszalski at Fabryka Sztuki
(Photo: Marta Zając-Krysiak fotografia)

I decided to do things a bit differently than usual, and combine theatre and concerts on this list this year. In some ways, the line between the two grows ever blurrier: the most popular concerts right now tend to be highly produced theatrical spectacles - carefully choreographed down to the last gesture. 

There's little space for spontaneity in these huge arena scenarios, and the shows I've gravitated towards this year tended to foster closer audience/performer connections, whether it was Daniel Cerqueira combining song, serenade, silliness, memoir and memorial under fairy lights in a tiny Brixton art studio in the beautiful Danny is Fantastic or Marek Pospieszalski making a saxophone do things you didn't know saxophones could do in his captivating solo show at Fabryka Sztuki. 

Performing in Poland for the first time since 2014 accompanied by long-time bassist Jon Evans plus drummer Ash Soan, Tori Amos' Ocean to Ocean show in Katowice retained every bit of the intimacy of her two previous solo tours as she operated her arsenal of keyboards and welcomed the Katowice crowd with a casual "Hey Poland, what's up?" 

Tori Amos at Spodek in Katowice
(Photo: Jacek Raciborski )

Part blistering rock show, part revival meeting, the trio stretched the songs into supple, jazzy jams across a set list tailored to the place and moment. Surprises were many but the single moment I loved most was the ferocity with which Amos pulled out a gem of a line from "Smokey Joe": "One's past is not a destination".

Mo­rze ∞ moż­li­wo­ści 
 (Photo: Agnieszka Cytacka fotografia)

From the bewitching gentle puppetry of Fundacja Gra/nice's Mo­rze ∞ moż­li­wo­ści  (Sea of ∞ Possibilities) to the exhilarating wild rides of BUD and Rejs (Cruise), this summer's Retroperspektywy Festival in Łódź provided several of the year's theatrical highlights; the absolute standout was the closing Livet. Suite for the Earth concert, which brought together singers and musicians from several countries in an extraordinary performance. 

Livet 
(Photo: Agnieszka Cytacka fotografia)

Otherwise, a tendency toward Łódź-specific stories with a wider resonance characterised some of the best theatre presented in the city, especially at Teatr Nowy, whether Dobrze ułożony młodzieniec's innovative dramatization of the interwar life of transman Eugeniusz Steinbart or the immersive evocation of the city's rave culture in Mój pierwszy rave.

Dobrze ułożony młodzieniec

Spectacularly subversive takes on Hamlet and Carmen were also highlights, and I predict a  bright future for Grzybki (Mushrooms), a sharp, playful and song-filled exploration of motherhood, written by Aleksandra Skraba, who co-starred alongside Elżbieta Zajko.

Grzybki
(Photo: Mr. and Mrs. Oh!)

I saw less theatre in the UK this year, which still seems too in thrall to new plays based on real-life figures, confusing celebrity status with dramatic interest.

Meetings 
(Photo: Marc Brenner)

Tom Littler began his Orange Tree Artistic Directorship with two smart and crowd-pleasing productions: of The Circle and She Stoops to Conquer. Still, the best production I saw at the OT this year was Kalungi Ssebandeke’s rich and haunting revival of Mustapha Matura's Meetings, in which a postcolonial conflict between tradition and modernity plays out in the kitchen of an upwardly mobile Trinidadian couple. With a great trio of performances from Kevin N Golding, Bethan Mary-James and,  especially, an absolutely stunning Martina Laird, Meetings wasn't the hit it deserved to be, but Ssebandeke’s production won't be forgotten by those who were lucky enough to catch it. 

Trouble in Butetown 
(Photo: Manuel Harlan)

Also brilliantly locating a big story in a domestic space (and with another role vividly played by Bethan Mary-James) was Diana Nneka Atuona's latest play Trouble in Butetown at the Donmar, an absorbing WWII drama, set in a racially mixed household in multicultural Tiger Bay. Tinuke Craig's production had a beautiful tenderness and warmth but also gave the drama the drive of a thriller. And also at the Donmar, Michael Longhurst directed a not very popular but pleasingly tough-minded Private Lives that dispensed with any sentiment in conveying the play's vision of love as a battlefield.

Finally, beginning the year on a high note was the glorious touring production of Fisherman's Friends: The Musical, and ending it on one that captured all the joy, craziness and sadness of the season was Barb Jungr and Dillie Keane's wonderful Christmas show, Two Turtle Doves. 

Here's to 2024!