2016 was a year for Brexiteers and Trumpeters, and, with an unreasonable number of losses among showbiz greats, it is something of a relief that it has come to a close. On a personal level, the year was blighted by a sight problem that made it difficult to write reviews and led to an even higher than usual number of typos, for which I apologise. The problem should be fixed in the first week of 2017, so I am looking forward to a New Year of tasty theatre delicacies.
I managed to see (if not too well) over 160 productions, 83 of them reviewed for The Reviews Hub. As usual, the following are my personal favourites of 2016 and, this year, I am making no distinction between mainstream and fringe (I don’t know where the line is drawn anyway).
FAVOURITE PRODUCTIONS (alphabetical order)
An Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures (iHo) (Hampstead Theatre)
The Flick (National Theatre)
Grey Gardens (Southwark Playhouse)
Groundhog Day (Old Vic)
Jess and Joe Forever (Orange Tree Theatre)
Kenny Morgan (Arcola Theatre)
The Mother (Tricycle Theatre)
Mouse – The Persistence of an Unlikely Thought (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh)
The Nap (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield)
Ragtime (Charing Cross Theatre)
The Rolling Stone (Orange Tree Theatre)
Wild (Hampstead Theatre)
Honourable Mentions: Amadeus (National Theatre), The Brink (Orange Tree Theatre), The Burnt Part Boys (Park Theatre), The Caretaker (Old Vic), The Deep Blue Sea (National Theatre), Faith Healer (Donmar Ware house), Funny Girl (Menier Chocolate Factory/Savoy Theatre), The Go-Between (Apollo Theatre), Good Canary (Rose Theatre, Kingston), The Great Divide (Finborough Theatre), Guys and Dolls (Savoy Theatre), Love (National Theatre), Milk (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh), Orphans (Southwark Playhouse), Plastic Figurines (New Diorama Theatre), The Red Barn (National Theatre), Road Show (Union Theatre), Uncle Vanya (Almeida Theatre), Welcome Home Captain Fox (Donmar Warehouse)
FAVOURITE PERFORMANCES
Male in a play: (jointly) Daniel Mays and Timothy Spall (The Caretaker). Honourable mentions: David Calder (iHo), Paul Keating (Kenny Morgan)
Female in a play: Gina McKee (The Mother and Faith Healer). Honourable mentions: Tamsin Greig (iHo), Glenda Jackson (King Lear), Maureen Lipman (My Mother Said I Never Should), Freya Mavor (Good Canary), Helen McCrory (The Deep Blue Sea)
Ensemble in a play: iHo
Male in a musical: Andy Karl (Groundhog Day). Honourable mentions: David Haig and Jamie Parker (Guys and Dolls), Michael Xavier (Sunset Boulevard)
Female in a musical: Sheridan Smith (Funny Girl). Honourable mentions: Glenn Close (Sunset Boulevard), Sheila Hancock and Jenna Russell (Grey Gardens), Sophie Thompson (Guys and Dolls)
Ensemble in a musical: Ragtime
OTHER FAVOURITES
New (to the UK) play: The Flick by Annie Baker
New (to the UK) musical: Groundhog Day by Tim Minchin and Danny Rubin
Director (play): Robert Icke (The Red Barn and Uncle vanya)
Director (musical): Thom Southerland (Allegro, Grey Gardens, Ragtime and Titanic – revival)
LAST AND VERY MUCH LEAST…This year’s dirty dozen: The American Wife (Park Theatre), Cleansed (National Theatre), 4,000 Days (Park Theatre), Hand to God (Vaudeville Theatre), The Mirror Never Lies (Cockpit Theatre), Miss Atomic Bomb (St James Theatre), Norma Jeane: The Musical (LOST Theatre). Off the King;s Road (Jermyn Street Theatre), The Past is a Tattooed Sailor (Old Red Lion Theatre), The Red Shed (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh), Something Something Lazarus (King’s Head Theatre). Two Kittens and a Kid (The Space, Edinburgh)
The Beast's Pen 