My year in theatre - 2025

The Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London

I've seen more shows in one year than most people see in a lifetime and my life is all the richer for it. I don't read many books (I never have) so my exposure to new ideas is primarily through theatre and I'm as happy seeing a West End blockbuster as a fringe gem. I'm also happy to try new formats and genres, although I'm still on the fence with 'immersive' theatre but I'll keep trying. I've reviewed a number of shows this year and I'm slowly adding all the ones with my name on them to my blog (I've ghost written and co-written a few as well but am not credited).

Anyway, this is a summary of my year in theatre:

163 shows seen (not including concerts)

Most visited venue - The National Theatre (where I'll be again next week watching Clive Owen and Saskia Reeves in End) but fringe venues also get a decent look-in. 

My smallest venue was the etcetera theatre in Camden with just 42 seats and the biggest, the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith with over 3,000. The Museum of Comedy was a newly discovered gem - a lovely, intimate,, basement venue in Bloomsbury.

About a third of what I see are musicals. I thought it would have been more than that as I do love a good musical.

January and April were my busiest months with 20 and 22 shows seen respectively. November was my quietest month with only 8 shows, but that was down to being away for work for half the month.

And I've even ventured out of London to see a couple of things (must make more of an effort for out-of-London trips next year)

So what's been good, what's been not good and what am I looking forward to in 2026...

Plays: 

1. Punch (Young Vic/West End) (hard hitting, emotional, great writing and a true story from my favourite contemporary playwright, James Graham - a schools tour is coming soon)

2. Kenrex at The Other Palace (booking until end Jan) (I was riveted throughout. Just wow. Also based on a true story)

3. Much Ado About Nothing at Drury Lane  (About the most perfect version of any Shakespeare play I've ever seen and supersedes my previous favourite, The Bridge Theatre's Midsummer Night's Dream)

Honourable mentions: Kyoto (RSC), Til The Stars Come Down (National), Dear England (National)

Musicals:

1. Just for One Day (booking until February at The Shaftesbury Theatre) - it's a great retelling of an important part of modern cultural history with fantastic music. I've seen it three times!

2. Evita - Jamie Lloyd did what he does best with Evita. He threw all his motifs at it, but they all worked. Rachel Zegler and Diego Rodriguez were fabulous in the lead roles. I also saw the balcony scene twice which was also wonderful.

3. The Producers (booking until at least the Spring) - fast-paced and utterly hilarious. I laughed so much that the next day it felt like I'd done a workout!

Honourable mentions: Shucked (Regents Park), London Road (National), Oliver (Simon Lipkin makes a great Fagin in this faithful restaging of the familiar story and it's booking for 12 months-ish so it's doing well) and Tina Turner (now on tour)

Off West End /Fringe

1. Murmuration Level 2 at The Peacock theatre was a clever and beautiful dance production. The cast moved as one organism. Quite something to behold. You can find out more about them here.

2. Dimanche was gorgeous with wonderful puppetry and movement and was part of the annual MimeLondon season (there were many treats as part of the festival such as Moby Dick and Manekine).

3. Sing Street was a lot of fun with youthful energy and great music (I hear rumours of a West End transfer)

Honourable mentions: Salty Brine (Soho Theatre), Tones A Hip Hop Opera by Gerel Falconer at Brixton House, In The Dark (back in the Spring with new immersive music experiences), Ada Campe's Behind The Nightlight (who has a show coming up at Crazy Coqs soon)

Worst show

1. Bacchanalia at Hoxton was not a good experience, not least witnessing some punters and their sordid voyeurism leering at the young cast. Even without that, it summed up everything I dislike about the 'immersive' genre. 

2. Bettie Page (the musical) - good idea in principal but poorly executed. There is a story in there to be told but this version wasn't it. 

3. Stiletto was one of those that looked good on paper and had high production values - the set and costumes were lush with a good band and one of the largest casts I've seen at Charing Cross Theatre. However, this musical lurched back and forth between drama and parody and ended up being neither. And it was so overblown. And why is no-one talking about the 'Thriller' style zombie dance? What on earth was that about? And why wasn't there a counter-tenor on stage? I know they're not that common, but they do exist.

(Dis)honourable mentions: Salome, Saving Mozart 

Overall favourites 

1. Punch

2. Kenrex

3. Just for One Day

Most looking forward to:

1 Paddington - I have my ticket but it's months and months away!

2. Something Rotten - I saw the concert version with Jason Manford and Richard Fleeshman in the leading roles and can't wait to see them again.

3. Waitress - I've never seen the whole thing, only clips on YouTube and I love the song She Used To Be Mine so I'm looking forward to catching it on tour.

4. Avenue Q - I never saw it in the West End but know some of the songs which are so funny.

5. Cats - I never saw it back in the day but know all the songs and I need to expunge the dreadful movie version with something (hopefully) much better from Drew Maconie at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.

Till The Stars Come Down at Theatre Royal, Haymarket

I first saw Till The Stars Come Down by Beth Steel at The Dorfman. I watched it on the last weekend where I'd managed to buy a single ticket, in, possibly, one of the worst seats in the house! I'm usually better organised when buying tickets at The National Theatre but this one had slipped through my fingers.

Despite the frustration of having a head in front of me blocking my view half of the time, I was still totally rapt throughout. It's exciting writing, refreshing to hear new voices on stage and a poignant story. Therefore, I was absolutely delighted to be invited to see the show again and to review it on behalf of 1883 Magazine. 

It still hits the spot - hilarious and thought-provoking in equal measure. I missed the intimacy of the setting in The Dorfman, but that's a minor niggle rather than a complaint so if you do go and see it (and I recommend you do), then try to get one of the on-stage seats where you will get to experience that better than from a seat further away. 

Recommended. Booking until 27 September.

My full review is over on 1883 Magazine. Show seen on 11 July 2025. Thank you to the PR for the complimentary tickets.

Elektra - a Review

Performance seen: Thursday 27 March 3pm. Stalls K19. Duke of York's Theatre.

This is a high concept, experimental piece of theatre breathing new life into the centuries old storyfrom Sophocles. In that respect, it was successful. I enjoyed the drastically different approach to the story telling. The Greek Chorus's singing and sound effects were a highlight, although they were perhaps overplayed in the final third of the piece. Brie Larson's performance was good. She's essentially doing a monologue interspersed with some Greek Chorus and the odd bit of dialogue. At times, the delivery was a bit one tone but it wasn't as shouty as expected from the reviews I'd read.

Stockard Channing was fabulous and it would have been great to have seen more of her on stage. The whole thing would have benefitted from more dialogue too to maintain the energy and to provide variation.

The set effects (very limited - bare stage, white backdrop, a blimp, some chairs and some microphones) and staging were good but were probably not needed inasmuch the words and sounds were the focus here. What the blimp added is anyone's guess. Ditto the spray paint. The wardrobe department are clearly kept busy removing that from the elegant silky gold and white faux fur costumes worn by all but Elektra. She's in jeans, sneakers, shaved head and a Bikini Kill t-shirt.

Overall, the poetry of Brie's (Elektra) words and the opera meets plainchant of the chorus were enjoyable and an interesting way to tell the story. As such, it was more an auditory experience than a visual one for me and that's not a bad thing.

This style of theatre won't be for everyone, but I'm glad to have seen it and I'm glad that experimental, high concept theatre is available in the West End. 

Worth noting that after the performance, there was a queue at the stage door waiting for the cast to come out. I'm guessing these were mostly for Ms Larson but I expect Ms Channing also has her fans.

The run ends in a couple of weeks so if you want to catch it, you'll need to be quick. If you shop around, you'll find discounted tickets.

Cast:

Elektra - Brie Larson

Clytemnestra - Stockard Channing

Chrystothemis - Marieme Diouf

Aegisthus - Greg Hicks

Orestes - Patrick Vaill

Chorus: Hannah Bristow, Wallis Currie-Wood, Jo Goldsmith-Eteson, Nardia Ruth, Rebecca Thorn, Adeola Yemitan, 

Understudy - Arthur Boan

Creatives:

Writer - Anne Carson

Director - Daniel Fish

Choreographer - Annie-B Parson

Designer - Jeremy Herbert

Costume Design - Doey Luthi

Lighting Designer - Adam Silverman

Sound Design - Max & Ben Ringham

Composer - Ted Hearne

Heartbeat of Home at The Piccadilly Theatre

Well, this show was a little bit special. A mix of rhythmic dance styles from around the world including American Tap, Spanish Flamenco and Irish Traditional Dancing coupled with lovely storytelling all came together to create a wonderful night of entertainment. All the dancers were great, with the flamenco dancers being particularly impressive. This is one show I wouldn't hesitate to revisit. So uplifting!

McQueen at Theatre Royal, Haymarket

This dark play by James Phillips is beautifully done and is an interesting mix of spectacle, drama and dance. I particularly loved the choreography and the setting in Theatre Royal, Haymarket is apposite and adds to the glitz of the piece and gives it a better setting than its previous iteration at the St James' Theatre. However, it's not without flaws.

The play itself is an homage to McQueen, perhaps one might call it a hagiography. We don't get much insight into how he worked or who he was as an individual and that's an oversight. Stephen Wight is great as McQueen but is not given enough to work with.  We also don't see nearly enough of his specific designs, which is a shame. And yes, it's style over substance but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Maybe this is one for the fashionistas.

More about the play on Wikipedia.