Sweeney Todd (Bway): Really enjoyed this when I saw it last week, fab evening. Groban’s voice was stunning and his acting v good. Not as threatening as my ideal Sweeney but thoroughly enjoyed it. Annaleigh Ashford did fine (apart from the accent), good comic timing, but for me, the Tony should go to Micaela Diamond who was utterly stunning in Parade. (I quite liked Ben Platt too but would prefer to see Groban take it this time around).

The Motive and the Cue (NT): I enjoyed this very much and thought that Mark Gattis and Johnny Flynn were both excellent. I’m afraid I agree that Tuppence Middleton was miscast – I’ll have to see it again when it transfers to Broadway and they cast someone else in the Elizabeth Taylor role. Liz had a beautiful speaking voice, much less nasal than what Middleton is doing here.

Patriots (Almeida): Really enjoyed this, beautifully written with excellent performances from Will Keen and Luke Thallon, and Tom Hollander with a really outstanding performance. A couple of minor quibbles – there is no Nobel prize in Mathematics, and they had the judge wearing a barrister’s wig (why do they always do this?) I do understand that we shouldn’t boo excellent actors providing superlative performances, and of course I didn’t, but it did feel very odd to be applauding “Putin.”

Dear England (NT): Really enjoyed this. Joseph Fiennes and Gina McKee were both excellent (Fiennes has Southgate’s voice and mannerisms down to a tee). The staging is excellent. It’s very much of the moment (in some ways it reminded me of the Great Britain play with Billie Piper) and is in some ways a play for people who don’t go to plays (to the point that the three act structure is explained, albeit in the context of tournaments). But Graham uses every tool in his arsenal to make it work. The music is a particular highlight, with Fabio Capello’s music a laugh out loud moment. Some of the laughs don’t quite land but it is very funny overall. And it plays on every England football fan’s emotions very skilfully. The three hours flew by, for me. By the time it opens it will be very tight.

Vanya (WE): Four stars from me. His performance was stupendous, and I absolutely recommend it. (If you’re not v familiar with the story, do bone up in advance). I thought certain characters worked extremely well (Azov, Sonia, and, erm, Maureen and Liam) and others less well. I’m not sure if it’s a commentary on the weakness of Helena/Yelena as a Chekhov character or this production that I thought that she pretty much boiled down to “hot girl” without much nuance. Ivan/Vanya was also lacking in subtlety until second act at least if not the end, I thought; until then, it was difficult to feel his pathos. Andrew Scott was phenomenal, but I did miss the interactions between actors, especially when everything was going quickly. And I’m afraid any kind of “physical contact” didn’t really work for me, except at the end. But it was a really interesting experiment and an acting tour de force, and I’m v glad I saw it.

Next to Normal (Donmar): I thought this was very moving. Graham Norton was in the house, which caused something of a buzz. Caissie Levy was phenomenal, I thought as strong an actor as a singer. Jamie Parker’s acting was stupendous, except for his American accent which was sometimes weirdly twangy, and I remember his NY accent in Guys and Dolls years ago being much stronger. Lucy Munden was in as Natalie and was great on all counts. For me, though, Jack Wolfe was the highlight, what a voice, what a star!

Macbeth (Donmar): Still thinking about this. The headphones both added and detracted. Added in the sense that the actors could really whisper and could use literally all of the tones in their arsenal, which were not inconsiderable (DT’s beautiful diction was amazing, his pronunciation of “rhubarb” was worth the price of admission on its own, and Cush Jumbo was stellar). Detracted in the sense that the actors were there, and acting, and we could see them, but the immediacy of live theatre was taken away a bit, for me. I tried taking my headphones off at one point (the beginning of “act 2” has some potential audience participation for those in the front row, be warned (I think you can decline by not making eye contact)) but there was too much going on to really do that for very long. The headphones worked beautifully with the witches, though. Overall I enjoyed it very much, there was some really superb acting.

Top 5 of 2023:

Top 5, no particular order: Sunset Boulevard, Old Friends, Next to Normal, Streetcar, Standing at the Sky’s Edge. (In New York I loved Merrily, Parade and Purlie, quite liked Sweeney and Here We Are). Honourable mention: Macbeth (Donmar), Dear England, Shirley Valentine, A Little Life, The Motive and the Cue, Crazy for You, A Mirror, La Cage, Patriots, House of Bernarda Alba, Sylvia. (ETA that I suppose I should put Vanya in here, although the fact that I didn’t remember it initially is probably indicative of something). I genuinely think it’s been a great year for theatre.