Latest Pieces
Multiple Casualty Incident – Yard Theatre
Sami Ibrahim’s exceptional play about the ethics of action and representation is given an exquisite, propulsive production by Jaz Woodcock-Stewart
The Hills of California – Harold Pinter Theatre
Jez Butterworth’s seaside-set intergenerational tale explores the consequences of money, fame, power and abuse
Civilisation – Shoreditch Town Hall
Antler’s dance-theatre production is astounding, as a grieving woman’s house is infiltrated by spectral dancers she cannot see
The Seagull – Harold Pinter Theatre
Jamie Lloyd’s intimate production is a perfect match for Anya Reiss’s sumptuously wistful, mumbled and muttered adaptation, its strong cast led by a sensational Indira Varma
Much Ado About Nothing – National Theatre, Lyttleton
Simon Godwin turns up the farce in this splashy and hilarious take on Shakespeare’s most entertaining comedy, though the cheerful tone does not always fit with the play’s darker corners
The Trials – Donmar Warehouse
The young stand in judgment over older generations of everyday climate criminals in this searing play from Dawn King, which brilliantly weighs the ethics of justice with a superb young cast
Translations – Abbey Theatre, Dublin
This exquisitely tender production of Brian Friel’s towering play brilliantly renders its examination of language as the essential building block of culture and society, as well as its aching heart
Patriots – Almeida
The rise of Vladimir Putin is cast as the story of Frankenstein in Peter Morgan’s timely recent history drama, with an electric Tom Hollander as Boris Berezovsky, Putin’s unwitting creator
Sun & Sea – The Albany
This delightfully designed opera uses a beach scene and songs to reflect with searing depth on humanity’s relationship to the planet, finding a place of escape from and during the climate crisis
The 47th – Old Vic
Bertie Carvel commands the stage with a magisterial Trump impression, but Mike Bartlett’s future-history in blank verse lacks Shakespearean depth
The Glass Menagerie – Duke of York’s Theatre
Amy Adams’ star performance is outshone by a phenomenal supporting cast in a moving, if inconsistent production of Tennessee Williams’ ‘memory play’
The Father and the Assassin – National Theatre Olivier
Anupama Chandrasekhar’s riveting assassination drama is rare thing – a brand new play that really works the Olivier Theatre to its advantage
Before I Was A Bear – Soho Theatre Upstairs
Eleanor Tindall’s brilliant dark fable about obsession and desire weaves a subtly profound tale of 21st century (in)justice and the ethics of revenge
Daddy – Almeida
Jeremy O. Harris’s magnificently theatrical art-world drama makes for a compelling examination of the ethics of money, power, sex and love
Girl on an Altar – Kiln
Eileen Walsh’s portrait of conflicted grief commands the stage in Marina Carr’s electrifying retelling of Aeschylus, which delays Clytemnestra’s revenge killing until the last possible moment
Tom Fool – Orange Tree Theatre
Franz Xaver Kroetz’s stunning portrait of the dehumanising psychological effects of work is staged in an emotionally intense revival by Diyan Zora
The Human Voice – Harold Pinter Theatre
Ruth Wilson gives a focused performance in an austere production from Ivo van Hove and Jan Versweyveld which rarely comes to life
Henry V – Donmar Warehouse
Max Webster’s excellent production leans into the play’s moral complexity, though world events make Henry’s actions seem even less justifiable than usual
The Chairs – Almeida
Omar Elerian brilliantly deconstructs Ionesco in this hilariously virtuosic, physically comic staging, which uses an invisible, imaginary audience to remind us of our immediate presence in the theatre space
The Forest – Hampstead Theatre
Florian Zeller’s kaleidoscopic new play about the multiplicity and duplicity of men is slickly designed and has fantastic performances, though it does not find the same richness in its female characters
A Number – Old Vic
Exquisite performances lend a transfixing, heightened realism to Caryl Churchill’s profound domestic thriller, in which a man turns to science in a doomed search for spiritual renewal, interspersed with the serene, sacred music of Arvo Pärt
The Winston Machine – New Diorama Theatre
Kandinsky’s stunning new show combines toxic nostalgia with modern malaise, identifying the trauma beneath an over-romanticised national myth
Peggy for You – Hampstead Theatre
Tasmin Greig blazes her way through a biographical drama that questions what theatre is without really finding an answer, while seeming to reflect on the programming choices of Hampstead’s uneven 60th anniversary season
Yellowfin – Southwark Playhouse (Critmas Repost)
Marek Horn’s exceptional play explores the formation of myths and the way language hides and reveals the world, through a brilliant high-concept conceit
Fair Play – Bush Theatre
Ella Road’s brilliant new play is an inspired drama of high achievement and youthful exhaustion, before it strikingly broadens its scope
Force Majeure – Donmar Warehouse
Underpowered dialogue and undefined characters make this sometimes-sharp satire of male shame clunk, despite slick design and a terrific premise
Best of Enemies – Young Vic
James Graham debates the idea of debates themselves, in a highly watchable show that shows Graham continuing to question the value of his own work
Four Quartets – Harold Pinter Theatre
Ralph Fiennes intricately delivers T.S. Eliot’s mordant poem, in a simple production which communicates, but rarely interprets, its swirling images and ideas
little scratch – Hampstead Theatre Downstairs
Rebecca Watson’s extraordinary novel is stunningly staged by Miriam Battye and Katie Mitchell, in a production which embodies a book set within a mind
The Comedy of Errors – Barbican (RSC)
Phillip Breen’s high-energy take on Shakespeare’s early comedy makes largely sublime additions to the source material – and makes you wonder why Shakespeare comedies can’t be like this more often
Rare Earth Mettle – Royal Court Downstairs
Inventive design, strong performances and occasionally brilliant satire cannot compensate for the dramaturgical failures of Al Smith’s new drama, which notably include its central character’s original name playing into antisemitic tropes
The Wife of Willesden – Kiln
Indhu Rubasinghim’s almost-perfect production brings style and energy to Zadie Smith’s witty and incisive contemporary reworking of Chaucer
Love and Other Acts of Violence – Donmar Warehouse
Cordelia Lynn’s dazzling new play has a jagged beauty and is well served by Elayce Ismail’s production, yet it loses focus at times due to its political ambiguity and its acting
Hamlet – Young Vic
Cush Jumbo is an often-terrific Hamlet at sea in Greg Hersov’s tonally inconsistent production
Camp Siegfried – Old Vic
Bess Wohl’s 1930s two-hander is alive with contemporary parallels, but has more insight into the processes of radicalisation than its potential solutions
Rockets and Blue Lights – National Theatre Dorfman
Winsome Pinnock’s brilliant play examines the way we look at art, and the legacies of Turner and the slave trade
What If If Only – Royal Court Downstairs
Caryl Churchill’s anti-ghost story is brought to life by the luminous John Heffernan and Linda Bassett
The Tragedy of Macbeth – Almeida
Yaël Farber’s exceptional, revelatory production boasts astonishing performances and a near-definitive modern take on Lady Macbeth
The Normal Heart – National Theatre Olivier
A sparse but strong revival of Larry Kramer’s influential play is a curiously programmed pandemic drama that documents and commemorates
Hymn – Almeida
Adrian Lester and Danny Sapani brilliantly perform Lolita Chakrabarti’s moving play, which astounds in-person in a way it never quite did online
Dream – RSC
A star-studded motion capture riff on A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the theatrical highlight of the last year
Shook – Southwark Playhouse
Samuel Bailey’s interrogation of the justice system has savage humour and tenderness
Lungs – Old Vic: In Camera
Duncan Macmillan’s dazzling, affecting, if frustrating play about personal responsibility and the climate crisis
Joshua Robey 