Another year of seeing theatre, much of it fabulous, some of it so-so and a couple of absolute disasters (which I’m not going to go into here, but would be happy to talk about in person….)
A special mention to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which isn’t on this years list as its earlier incarnation at Southwark Playhouse was on last year’s, but it’s a joy and a thrill to now see it ensconced at the Ambassadors as a fully fledged West End hit. If you haven’t seen it yet, do go….it’s the best new British musical in decades.
Other British musicals I adored this year, but didn’t quite make it to my top ten, were the Old Vic’s surprisingly moving Live Aid nostalgia fest Just For One Day (transferring to the West End’s Shaftesbury next spring), and Babies, a pop-driven musical comedy about teens pretending to parent dolls for a school project, that punched well above its weight.
There was the grand Palladium revival of Hello, Dolly! with Imelda Staunton and an outstanding cast, which was on a scale we seldom see these days, and West End and Broadway smashes & Juliet and Come From Away headed out on UK tour with new casts every bit the equal of (and in a couple of instances, superior to) their predecessors. Billy Crudup made an accomplished London debut in the off-Broadway import, solo Harry Clarke which was a dazzling example of simple but essential storytelling.
As of Shakespeare, the Globe gave us a rapturous Much Ado About Nothing which felt almost radical thanks to its adherence to Elizabethan dress (seldom seen these days!) but truly fresh in its unusually complex but entirely delightful new take on Beatrice and Benedick (Amalia Vitale and Ekow Quartey, both irresistible). Then the National’s monumental, African-tinged Coriolanus was an autumn highlight.
The National also gave us a searing modern take on Antigone, with Alexander Zeldin’s The Other Place featuring an incandescent Emma D’Arcy, and the life-enhancing American play The Hot Wing King by Katori Hall. Another glorious piece of writing from a female African American writer was the Donmar’s Skeleton Crew, Dominique Morisseau’s engrossing, humane Rust Belt drama, featuring an astonishing cast.
In West London, the Finborough had another strong year with a triumphant rediscovery of Sidney Howard’s American family drama The Silver Cord in a flawless revival and Foam, Henry McDonald’s intense, fact-based examination of far right politics versus gay identity leading their list of must-sees, or rather, should-have-seens if you didn’t. Just a mile or so away, the Bush’s riveting, satisfying My Father’s Fable proved that rising star Faith Omole is as fine a writer as she is an actor. For me, the jewel in the Lyric Hammersmith’s 2024 crown was a world class revival of Brian Friel’s Faith Healer, dominated by a laser- sharp, unforgettable Justine Mitchell.
Further afield, the Rose in Kingston and Northampton Theatres collaborated on a fine, unsettling stage version of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, and while everyone’s talking about the National’s outrageous, technicolour Importance of Being Earnest, for me the wildest Wilde of the year was the Manchester Royal Exchange’s joyous but thoughtful update which saw Cecily as a TikTok-er, a Trustafarian Jack, and Lady Bracknell as a briskly brutal Home Counties matron in Barbour jacket and pearls.
I’ll never forget the enchanting new Broadway sleeper hit Maybe Happy Ending with Darren Criss and newcomer Helen J Shen breaking hearts as a couple of failing robots dealing with some very human problems. There was a great deal of robust fun, as well as lashings of blood plus legs crossed in discomfort, at off-Broadway’s Teeth, a rollicking rock musical based on a notorious gorefest (think vagina dentata meets Little Shop of Horrors) which should have run for years but ends its run next week. It would be a great fit for Southwark Playhouse, just saying… Then there were few things I laughed at as much as at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s world premiere of Rob Ulin’s sit-comy but fabulous Judgement Day with Jason Alexander as an amoral lawyer trying to mend his ways to avoid eternal damnation and finding that doing good is a lot more powerful than he expected. It was an absolute treat and, like Alexander’s gleeful creation, thoroughly deserves a further life.
So that was a lot of what I loved this year, but here’s my top twenty of 2024, in alphabetical but not necessarily preferential order….
*
1 AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE – Duke of York’s, London – closed 13 April
Less a revival than a full scale reinvigoration, this thrilling European adaptation, starring Matt Smith for London, brought Ibsen’s climate crisis tragedy worryingly up-to-date.
*
2 BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY – Hampstead, London – ended 15 June
Stephen Adly Gurgis’s magnificently grimy yet magical Manhattan family tragicomedy received an overdue but rambunctiously enjoyable UK premiere.
*
3 BRACE BRACE – Royal Court Upstairs, London – ended 9 November
Oli Forsyth’s taut thriller, inspired by true events, examined how humans process trauma. Daniel Raggett’s hyper-focused staging featured terrific acting and a hair-raising approximation of a plane crash.
*
4 CABLE STREET – Southwark Playhouse, London – ended 10 October
I doubt we’ve seen the last of this exciting British musical that played two sold out seasons. Retelling the story of the 1936 Battle of Cable Street where multicultural East Enders joined forces to defeat the fascists, it’s London’s own Les Mis.
*
5 CYRANO – Park, London – playing NOW until 11 January 2025
Already a deserved smash in Australia and Edinburgh, this anachronistic queer riff on Rostand’s beloved text honours the original but repaints it with rainbow coloured joy for the 21st century. Writer and star Virginia Gay is the real deal.
https://parktheatre.co.uk/event/cyrano/
*
6 DEATH BECOMES HER – Lunt-Fontanne, NYC – playing NOW in an open-ended run
High camp done right: caught this musical adaptation of the Meryl Streep-Goldie Hawn movie in its Chicago tryout and it was already fabulous but it’s been gloriously fine-tuned for Broadway. Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard are gorgeous, glamorous…and deadly.
*
7 FIDDLER ON THE ROOF – Regents Park Open Air, London – ended 28 September
Jordan Fein’s soul-stirring revival of the Broadway classic was that unique thing: a supremely intelligent and moving take on a familiar show that gave traditionalists everything they needed but still provided fresh insights.
*
8 GIANT – Royal Court, London – ended 16 November : reopens Apollo, London 26 April 2025
Mark Rosenblatt’s brilliant debut put the artistry and the antisemitism of literary titan Roald Dahl under the microscope. It feels like an instant modern classic elevated even higher by John Lithgow and a peerless cast.
*
9 HELLS KITCHEN – Shubert, NYC – playing NOW in an open-ended run
Simultaneously a thunderous Valentine to one of Manhattan’s most vibrant quarters and a jubilant celebration of Alicia Keys’s history and back catalogue, this is so exhilarating it’s practically an out-of-body experience.
*
10 JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR – Delamar, Amsterdam, Netherlands and touring – ended 17 November
Ivo van Hove’s gritty, blood soaked Jesus Christ Superstar (with not a single camera or video screen in sight!) in the Netherlands (but performed in English), seemed less about religion than collective responsibility, and it was enthralling.
*
11 KING LEAR – Almeida, London – ended 30 March
Danny Sapani was an astounding Lear in a Yael Farber production that was an object lesson in how to update and recontextualise Shakespeare without sacrificing urgency, clarity or poetry.
*
12 NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 – Donmar, London – playing NOW until 8 February 2025
It’s sold out but keep trying for returns for this intoxicating American musical culled from a section of War And Peace, given a marvellously chic and eccentric staging by the Donmar’s new AD Tim Sheader.
*
13 OH, MARY! – Lyceum, NYC – playing NOW until 28 June 2025
The off-Broadway show that could! Who knew that a stage life of deeply unhappy First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln could be this much fun. Oh, Mary! has rightly catapulted writer and star Cole Escola to mainstream stardom. An absolute riot.
*
14 SHIFTERS – Bush, London then Duke of York’s, London – ended 12 October
Benedict Lombe’s heart meltingly beautiful love song cum memory play moved around in time but never confusingly. Heather Agyepong and Tosin Cole burned bright in Lynette Linton’s generous, supple staging.
*
15 STEREOPHONIC – John Golden, NYC – playing NOW until 12 January 2025
Another instant classic, but this time on the other side of the Pond (though allegedly headed to London in 2025). David Adjmi’s remarkable dissection of a rock band recording an iconic album is like the most riveting fly-on-the-wall documentary.
*
16 THE CABINET MINISTER – Menier Chocolate Factory, London – ended 16 November
With her barnstorming central turn in this triumphant Pinero reclamation, Nancy Carroll reconfirmed her position as heiress apparent to the high comedy mantle of Dame Maggie Smith. She also did the naughty but nice adaptation and Paul Foster helmed a production that felt simultaneously timely and sparklingly escapist.
*
17 THE FEAR OF 13 – Donmar Warehouse, London – ended 30 November
Oscar winner Adrien Brody made a coruscating stage bow in Lindsey Ferrentino’s riveting true life tale of injustice and wrongful imprisonment, given a cracking staging by Justin Martin featuring another incandescent debut from Nana Mensah.
*
18 THE OUTSIDERS – Bernard B Jacobs, NYC – playing NOW in an open-ended run
Winner of this years Best Musical Tony award, this adaptation of S E Hinton’s beloved novel is a real beauty. A dark but uplifting coming-of- age tale set in late 1960s Oklahoma, the score is bluesily haunting and Dayna Taylor’s staging stuns.
*
19 THE PRODUCERS – Menier Chocolate Factory, London – playing NOW until 1 March 2025
Director Patrick Marber and choreographer Lorin Latarro may be delivering a scaled down version of Mel Brooks’s anarchic tuner but it’s every bit as wonderful as Susan Stroman’s original extravaganza.
https://www.menierchocolatefactory.com
*
20 TILL THE STARS COME DOWN – National Theatre/Dorfman, London – ended 16 March
Beth Steel’s engrossing, hilarious play combined warring sisters, the state of the nation and a wedding from hell to tumultuous, unforgettable effect. The writing, the performances, the staging…all exemplary. A gem.
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