While I’m having to scale back my theatregoing this year, the quality of the shows I’ve seen recently has made up for the reduction in volume. For anyone looking for inspiration, here are my latest recommendations.
Today is the first day of a new year, and 2018 is the year I will have to scale back my theatre going (it was getting ridiculous to be fair). So I’m going to have to be a lot more selective about what I see.
As a functioning theatre addict I clocked up 145 different shows in 2017. Which is no mean feat as my amateur status means I paid to see all these shows (as this is an unsustainable addiction, 2018 is gearing up to be much quieter).
It remains my favourite of Shakespeare’s plays (Much Ado leading as my favourite of his comedies) and I have avidly collected productions the way others might collect stamps.
“What do you mean you’ve never been to the Edinburgh Festival? You must go, you’d love it.” Yeap, it’s that time of year where I hear variations of the above ad nauseam.
Last Friday night I had the great pleasure of seeing Ian McKellen’s show at the Park Theatre, followed by tapas with the fabulous man himself. It was a wonderful night from start to finish.
Here I wanted to focus on 4 brilliant musicals I think are particularly exciting, that you could go see: Roller Diner (Soho Theatre), La Strada (The Other Palace), Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (Duke Of York’s) and These Trees Are Made of Blood (Arcola).
When you arrive you are given a locker key, and asked to lock away your mobile phone. While this jarred at first, the freedom from the tyranny of having a quick glance at my phone as I waited for the show to start was wonderful.
The front of house staff are the lifeblood of any theatre, and for those theatres with ambitions to offer a space for people to be outside of theatre-going hours, they are its heart and soul.
