Favourite plays of 2016

I haven't seen that many this year, but out of the ones I did, it would have to be Luce at the Southwark Playhouse even if I didn't like the main point of the script. The only other plays I remember seeing are Ma Rainey and The Play That Goes Wrong (which means any others I saw can't have been great as I don't remember them).

I wrote a blog about my favourite theatre outings of 2016 and while it's a mixture of plays and musicals, a play IS in the number one spot: Amadeus at the National Theatre, which I thought was phenomenal! If you're interested you can read the full top 10 here: www.pagetostagereviews.com/2016/12/my-top-10-favourite-theatre-shows-from.html

Yerma at the Young Vic, honestly one of the best things I've ever seen.

Cyprus Avenue, The Dresser, No Man's Land, and an honourable mention for The Caretaker.

My personal best in no particular order



Kenny Morgan / Arcola

This House / Garrick

Faith Healer / Donmar

Master builder / Old Vic

Travesties / Menier

The Patriotic Traitor / Park Theatre

Hapgood / Hampstead

Not I / Old Vic

Dr Angelus / Finborough

Right now / Bush theatre

Home Chat / Finborough

Good Canary / Kingston Rose

Sherlock Holmes & The Invisible Thing / Tabard

Roundabout / Park Theatre

Richard III / Almeida

Off the Kings roads / JST

Hedda Gabbler / NT

No Man's Land / Wyndham's

Art / Old Vic 

The Dresser was hands down my fave show of the year. The most emotional at least.

My favourites:
The Flick - NT
Bug - Found 111
Faith Healer- Donmar
Yerma - Young Vic
Cuttin' It - Young Vic
People Places Things - West End
One Night in Miami - Donmar
Uncle Vanya - Almeida

Most under-rated: Hotel Cerise - Stratford East and A Man of Good Hope at the Young Vic
Most over-rated: The Master Builder (Old Vic) and Richard III (Almeida)

Least favourites: Once in a Lifetime and Nest, both at Young Vic

Party - Above the Stag
Kenny Morgan - Arcola
Thebes Land - Arcola
Thérèse Raquin - Southwark
The Flick - NT, Dorfmann
Cuttin' It - Young Vic
People, Places and Things - Wyndham's
Boy - Almeida
X - Royal Court

iHo at the Hampstead will stay with me for a long time (more so once I get a copy of the script!)

My top 10 plays

1. An Enemy of the People (Chichester) (Best Revival) - A 134 year old play that was surprisingly relevant and topical in this day and age.
2. Noises Off (Nuffield Theatre) - Finally got round to seeing this and it did not disappoint (despite the empty theatre)
3. The Comedy about a Bank Robbery (Criterion Theatre) (Best New Comedy) - Not Mischief Theatre's finest but still side splittingly funny
4. Don Quixote (RSC) (Best New Play) - James Fenton beautifully portrays Cervante's mixture of comedy and tragedy in this adaptation, with plenty of entertainment along the way
5. Nell Gwynn (Globe/Apollo Theatre) - A joyous play about the life of this famous women.
6. The Rover (RSC) - A non-stop energetic and entertaining production full of color and music in a Spanish carnival setting
7. Pink Mist (Bristol Old Vic/Bush Theatre) - A fantastic physical theatre production about the horrors of Afghanistan experienced by three soldiers
8. The Flick (NT) - A slow moving but poignant play about three social outcasts that I could fully sympathize with
9. Watership Down (Watermill Theatre) - A wonderful adaptation of the late Richard Adams' novel with some creative and occasionally scary moments conveyed in the tiny theatre
10. French Without Tears (Orange Tree Theatre) - A surprisingly hilarious gem by Terrance Rattigan.

AND (because I am big fan) my top 10 Shakespeare productions

1. The Tempest (Sam Wanamaker) - A beautiful swan song production from Dominic Drongoole with some of the finest acting of the year.
2. Hamlet (RSC) - A clear narrative from Simon Godwin set in an African setting, with an outstanding lead performance from Paapa Essiedu. The best Hamlet I've seen in a while
3. The Tempest (Donmar Shakespeare) - A poignant take on the play set in Phllydia's prison setting with an outstanding performance given by Harriet Walter
4. Kings of War (Barbican) - Somehow Ivo Van Hove fitted Henry V, Henry VI and Richard III into a thrilling four hours.
5. The Tempest (RSC) - A lot of Tempests on this list arent there. Fantastic use of special effects (even if the Ariel hologram feels superfluous) and a superb performance from Simon Russel Beale as Prospero
6. Julius Caesar (Donmar Shakespeare) - Great use of the prison setting for the play, even if it does loose focus by the end. Great ensemble work especially Jade Anouka's energetic performance as Antony
7. Richard III (Emily Carding) - A one woman show that brought you up close to the monstrous Richard, who picked audience members out as her victims. A superb performance from Emily Carding.
8. A Midsummer Night's Dream (Lyric Hammersmith) - The funniest, absurd, and down right disturbing Midsummer I've ever seen.
9. Romeo and Juliet (Watermill Theatre) - Paul Hart's debut as the new artistic director of the Watermill Theatre was nothing short of a success. An immersive, in the round experience, turning the little theatre into an urban underworld. There were top-notch, energetic performances all round from a cast of young actors. Check out the upcoming tour if you can.
10. A Midsummer Night's Dream (Globe Theatre) - Certainly not the perfect Shakespeare production, but without doubt the best Midsummer experience I've had in a while. Despite what people think of her I salute Emma Rice for having the balls to put this on at the Globe.

The plays that have stayed with me are:

Pink Mist for the last line and beautiful use of movement and verbatim

Yerma for Billie Piper's performance and an updating which was so relevant

Cuttin' It for new writing and use of lighting to make the pain of FGM so startlingly physical

Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour for the raucous fun 

The Flick showed how silence can be so powerful (something seen in Love too)

One Night in Miami provided my surprise hit of the year - great ensemble piece

Trade affirmed again that if I could write one scene as well as debbie tucker green I would be so happy

The Truth made me laugh out loud

Kenny Morgan sparked an interest in Rattigan


My pick of the musicals is Jesus Christ Superstar at the Open Air though Groundhog Day was up there too



Worst was by far Britten in Brooklyn

I was disappointed by Elegy as Nick Payne can write so much better than that but acting was good

Cleansed stands out for the audience member vomitting (to me it was laughable rather than horrific)



I have to come down to a favourite and I am going to cheat slightly as I'm picking the Saturday I spent at the National watching the three Young Chekovs.