After rounding up various publications’ #theatre2015 highlights yesterday, it’s time to reflect on my own year in the stalls (well, mainly in the stalls, occasionally in the dress circle) with a slew of top ten (or so) lists including new plays, revivals, musicals, performances, events and “ones to watch”.
I don’t pretend for a minute that these lists are definitive of the theatregoing year overall; they represent only my personal opinions on the shows I’ve managed to see (a little over 130).
There were many more shows I didn’t manage to catch, and am still kicking myself about, due to other commitments, including several that have topped other lists: Farinelli and the King, Four Minutes and Twelve Seconds, Husbands and Sons, Man and Superman, Oresteia, Temple, The Motherfucker with the Hat and People, Places and Things.
Please note, productions on these are listed in alphabetical order, not ranking!
Further down the page, you’ll also find links to other #theatre2015 top picks from some of my colleagues at My Theatre Mates.
Penelope Wilton in Taken at Midnight, Mark Hayhurst’s debut play, which transferred from Chichester to the Haymarket
My Top 10 new plays of 2015
A Level Playing Field – Jermyn Street
Bad Jews – St James and Arts
Clarion – Arcola
Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage – Out of Joint at the Arcola
Hangmen – Royal Court and Wyndham’s
Mr Foote’s Other Leg – Hampstead and Theatre Royal Haymarket
Oppenheimer – RSC at the Vaudeville
Rotterdam – Theatre503
Taken at Midnight – Theatre Royal Haymarket
The Father – Tricycle and Wyndham’s
Jake Davies, Thomas Coombes and Josh Williams in Tooting Arts Club’s production of Barbarians
My Top 10 play revivals of 2015
American Buffalo – Wyndham’s
Barbarians – Tooting Arts Club
Death of a Salesman – RSC at the Noel Coward
Henry V – Lazarus at the Union
Lovesong of the Electric Bear – Hope Theatre and Above the Arts
Peter Pan – Open Air
Splendour – Donmar Warehouse
Tamburlaine – Lazarus at Tristan Bates
The Absence of War – Out of Joint at the Rose, Kingston
To Kill a Mockingbird – Open Air at the Barbican
Matt Henry in Kinky Boots at the West End’s Adelphi Theatre
My Top 10 musicals of 2015
American Idiot – Arts
Bend It Like Beckham – Phoenix
Bugsy Malone – Lyric Hammersmith
Gypsy – CFT at the Savoy
Kinky Boots – Adelphi
Love Birds – Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Fringe
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Open Air
Showstopper: The Improvised Musical – Apollo
The Stationmaster – Tristan Bates
Through the Mill – London Theatre Workshop
Derren Brown performs miracles in Miracle at the West End’s Palace Theatre
My Top 5 theatre events of 2015
Derren Brown’s miraculous show Miracle, lifting spirits and saving souls at the Palace Theatre
Hey, Old Friends, the 85th birthday tribute concert to Stephen Sondheim at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales, the immersive fairytale experience at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf
The opening day of the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company – with first two (or three, depending on how you count them) offerings The Winter’s Tale and All On Her Own/Harlequinade – at the West End’s Garrick Theatre
The Vote telecast live from the Donmar Warehouse on election night in final 90 minutes of polling
Johnny Flynn in Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen, now transferred from the Royal Court to the West End’s Wyndham’s Thaetre
My Top 15 performances of 2015
Aaron Sidwell – American Idiot, Arts
Andrew Scott – The Dazzle, Found 111
Anna Francolini – wonder.land, National
Ben Forster – Elf, Dominion
Bertie Carvel – The Hairy Ape, Old Vic
Giles Terera – Pure Imagination, St James
Greg Hicks – Clarion, Arcola
Imelda Staunton – Gypsy, CFT at the Savoy
John Heffernan – Oppenheimer, RSC at the Vaudeville
Johnny Flynn – Hangmen, Royal Court and Wyndham’s
Noma Dumezweni – Linda, Royal Court
Philip Bretherton – Tony’s Last Tape, Bridge House
Steven Wight – McQueen, St James and Haymarket
Thomas Coombes – Tooting Arts Club’s Barbarians
Zoe Wanamaker – Stevie, Hampstead
Alice McCarthy and Anna Martine in Jon Brittain’s Rotterdam at Theatre503
Ones to watch in 2016 and beyond
These are up-and-comers who all caught my attention this past year. I can’t wait to see what they do next.
Performers
Lucy Penrose – seen in Through the Mill at London Theatre Workshop
Nikki Patel – seen in Future Conditional at the Old Vic
Jake Davies – seen in Tooting Arts Club’s Barbarians at the former building of the Central Saint Martin’s Art College
George Knapper – seen in Love Birds at the Edinburgh Fringe
Liberty Buckland – seen in Yarico at London Theatre Workshop
Writers
Alex McSweeney – Out of the Cage, Park
Daniel Dingsdale – Dark Tourism, Park
Jon Brittain – Rotterdam, Theatre503
Mark Jagasia – Clarion, Arcola
Tim Connor (music/lyrics) and Susannah Pearse (book) – The Stationmaster, Tristan Bates
More top picks from My Theatre Mates
Jonathan Baz’s top picks of 2015
Jonathan’s choices include: Anything Goes, Barbarians, Carrie, Casa Valentina, Death of a Salesman, Funny Girl, Gypsy, Mrs Henderson Presents, Oppenheimer, Show Boat, The Grand Tour, The Merchant of Venice, The Producers and Tommy.
mytheatremates.com
Matt Merritt’s top picks of 2015
Matt’s favourites, seen variously in London and on tour, include: American Buffalo, Anything Goes, As You Like It, Damsel in Distress, Farinelli and the King, Grand Hotel, The Merchant of Venice, The Importance of Being Earnest and two different productions of Henry V.
mytheatremates.com
Laura Kressly’s top picks of 2015
Laura’s choices, mainly from London’s thriving fringe scene, include: Town Hall Cherubs, This is How We Die, Tether, Shakespeare and the Alchemy of Gender, Pomona, Light, Eclipsed, Don Q and Carmen Disruption.
mytheatremates.com
Caroline Hanks-Farmer’s top picks of 2015
Caroline’s favourites from London were: As Is, Beautiful, Four Minutes Twelve Seconds, Jersey Boys, Lord of the Dance, McQueen, Oresteia, See What I Wanna See, The Commitments, The Wasp and Tommy.
mytheatremates.com
Kristy Stott’s top picks of 2015
On the Manchester theatre scene, Kristy’s top shows of the past year were: Beautiful Thing, Boeing Boeing, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Golem, Kafka’s Monkey, Nirbhaya, Shooting with Light, The Rolling Stone, Wicked and Yen.
mytheatremates.com
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Terri Paddock founded WhatsOnStage.com and the WhatsOnStage Awards, running the company and its events from 1996 to 2013. Terri is also the author of two novels, Come Clean and Beware the Dwarfs, and has previously written for the Evening Standard, Independent, The Times and other national publications. She is renowned for her 'legendary' post-show Q&As and also produces the annual Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and acts as a digital, content strategy and event consultant for theatre, producers and other clients. She tweets about theatre at @TerriPaddock.
