The very best and worst

This is a difficult one. I could count Michael Boyd's Henry VI trilogy that set off my love for Shakespeare, as well as Richard II a year later. The ones that made me cry (Derek Jacobi's King Lear, the Old Vic's A Christmas Carol, Les Miserables), beam with joy (Maria Aberg's As You Like It, The Clockmaker's Daughter, Loveday Ingram's The Rover, Mary Poppins), laugh (Gregory Doran's Love's Labour's Lost), sit on the edge of my seat (Tim Piggot Smith in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Henry Goodman in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Barrie Rutter in Rutherford and Son) or downright uncomfortable (The Nether)

Or I could count the brilliant writing from plays like James Fenton's The Orphan of Zhao, David Haig's Pressure, Annie Barker's The Flick and James Graham's This House. And how about the phenomenal work some of the smallest and fringe venues deliver such as the Arcola Theatre's Carousel, the short-lived Twickenham Theatre's Sweeney Todd, Southwark Playhouse's Carrie. Or the phenomenal interpretations directors brought to plays like Rupert Goold's The Merchant of Venice.

As for the worst, I could easily count the Wooster Group's Troilus and Cressida, but to be honest I was fascinated watching this train wreck in slow motion. I'm almost pleased that I got to see a production like that. It didn't make me mad

What did leave me seething was Rachel Cusk's Medea. A play where the dialogue felt as natural as someone's blog post rants and after sitting through all that the changed ending left me livid.

All of my best seem to be from around the same time, probably because I was falling hook, line and sinker for all the theatre could offer: August: Osage County, Our Class, London Assurance, After the Dance, Earthquakes in London at the National; Jerusalem, Enron, Cock, Love Love Love at the Royal Court; A Streetcar Named Desire, Red, King Lear at the Donmar. It would seem I quite like Mike Bartlett. Nothing seems to grab me in the same way anymore.

Absolute worst was Saint George and the Dragon at the National. Half a semi-decent idea in search of a play. Appalling execution.

Best - Dr Faustus at the Royal Exchange in Manchester with Ben Kingsley in the early 80s. Stunning production that made such good use of the space.
And I loved Pippin at the Menier but I know I'm in a minority.

Worst - The recent revival of Cats was such a disappointment. Mind you I'm sure there's been plenty over the yers that I simply walked out of and have now forgotten.

Hahah that recent run wasn't good was it. What was with that faffing UFO lighting rig fly out at the start?
And the update to Rum Tum Tugger was cringeworthy. I lost count of the amount of people around the circle in Liverpool Empire actually audibly cringing and squirming during it.

Yep, never witnessed something that bad and dull. How is it even possible to ruin this wonderful Shakespeare play! Still haven't forgiven Mark Rylance for his bad direction and myself for not leaving during the interval.

Difficult to pick out one best but that's what first came to my mind: I just love This House, especially with Philip Glenister and Charles Edwards, and sitting on the green benches at the Cottesloe.

Did Mark Rylance direct it? Small wonder there was so much mumbling going on!

I didn't like it. It was rather bad, but at least it wasn't dull and John Heffernan and Kyle Soller were as fantastic in it  as always!

The one thing that stopped me going before the interval was the effervescent Vanessa Kirby, who was all sorts of FABULOUS.

Hated the rest of it though, went out at the interval to fortify myself with bubbly.

If we are doing the anything by, then anything directed by Maria Alberg. Having said that though I think my worst Willie was directed by Meckler, the R&J with the sticks. And my best Willie, though there are many in the premier league, is Hytner's Othello.

Guys and Dolls , the one mentioned previously with Ian Charleston , my best musical.

Worst - Thriller London, Thriller UK Tour, Thriller in general

Not sure about best or worst, but the ones that made the biggest impressions on me are:-

Henry V - Bolton Octagon 1978 : I was 14 and this was my introduction to Shakespeare. I suppose your reaction to The Bard very much depends on how you first come to it. This is the play my class was studying for O Level English Lit. The other class was reading R&J, which I don't think I would have responded to, tomboy that I am. Kings and battles? Yes!

All My Sons - Wyndhams Theatre 1981(2?) : Colin Blakely completely changed my view of Joe Keller in this production. He got me to "see it human", which I certainly didn't when I read the play in my A level class.

Wind in the Willows - NT Olivier 199? : a wonderful, colourful and funny adaptation by Alan Bennett, that I saw a few times thanks to the returns queue! Brilliant costumes, sets and above all, the performances. It's lovely to have them to remember actors who are sadly missed now - Richard Briers, Terrence Rigby and Michael Bryant.

A View From the Bridge - Wyndhams Theatre : I never got to see it at the Young Vic, so I was glad it made it to the WE. Ivo van Hove's decision to strip the scenery back to a bare playing space was inspired, and put the emphasis firmly on the text. The whole cast responded with brilliant performances, but my favourite here was Michael Gould as Alfieri. I think he was only off stage for one minute in the whole performance, and I was watching how he reacted to everything in the space, as well as the action itself. Different, and well worth doing it that way.

Sadly I have a collection from which to choose a worst. Grubbing about down there would be Blood, at the Royal Court, 2 interval-less hours of the dullest torture imaginable during which I could FEEL my facial hair growing, and my buttocks taking root in the seat. Similarly Attempts On Her Life at the NT, Cruel & Tender at the YV. Shunt's 'Contains Violence' was a salient reminder that oddball staging doesn't necessarily mean an interesting or good production. The award should probably go to Hysteria, staged in a board room at Barts, in 2008 by a (I think) Brazilian company. This really did lack any of the vital elements that make theatre; it was just some people in a room, saying and doing stuff. Men and women were separated into different seating blocks. In taking my unreserved seat - in the 'male' block, of course - one of the company hectoringly barked at me to sit somewhere else. For real, not as part of the 'performance'. Good start, eh? How to get your audience on side (I stayed put).

It's good to be able to say how hard it is to pick a best, having seen so many superb shows. I could select from memorable ones such as the original NT run of Angels, Madness of George III, Jerusalem, an RSC Rii with a jaw-dropping performance by Jonathan Slinger, People Places & Things..... etc etc. But I always come back to an Edinburgh Fringe production in 2008, The Battle of Pots & Pans, by the Prestoungrange company. Staged in a church hall, lights full on, cardboard props, depicting a company - the company we were watching - re-enacting Prestonpans. Arriving, getting changed, chatting, director fussing around them, readying them for a dress rehearsal, which is what we then watch. It was absolutely mesmerising. Whatever Hysteria lacked, this had truckloads of. In that harshly lit hall, with their make-do props and wardrobe, we absolutely were on Culloden Moor on a dark misty night. When it ended, they get changed back, discussing going for drinks etc, then the director says they need to rehearse the curtain call, which they then do - cue our applause.

I always pick this one because for me it was the very essence of theatre, in the way Hysteria was the complete opposite. I saw them about two months apart, luckily the right way around!