REVIEWERS CHOICE OF BEST SHOWS 2023


Another wonderful year of shows in pub theatres and elsewhere.   Whether these shows are sharing a deeply personal view or a much broader perspective, or are shows with no function other than to entertain, it always feels a privilege to be invited to give a response.   The sheer hard graft involved as well as the immense creativity is admirable, as well as all the love which goes into being part of the industry.  So many excellent shows and here we can only mention a few.   


Many thanks to those reviewers who have contributed to this round up of their favourite shows and for giving their time to reviewing shows all year round. All our reviewers are volunteers who have theatre expertise or have experience as professional writers. 



David Weir (Senior reviewer and Head Judge on Awards panel)

 

THE JOURNEY TO VENICE at Finborough Theatre (Feb/Mar)



My favourite show of the year was The Journey to Venice, translated from the Norwegian, and taking its elderly protagonists back on the journeys they’d enjoyed through life via their own imaginations and a few old videos as they sat in the familiar discomfort of their own front room as their lives closed in around them. Sweet, touching, funny and finding the deeply profound in very ordinary lives, it demonstrated that there’s little need if you want to say something very serious to strain for the modish, the topical and the shouty. Two old people who loved each other, who’d strayed, who’d made mistakes, and who had lived their lives - little lives, some might say - to the very fullest of their capacity, and who were able to inspire in youngsters who both valued and under-estimated them some inkling of how it might be to do the same. It won the Ibsen prize in Norway: what more do you need to know?


Chris Lilly (Senior Reviewer and deputy Head Judge Awards Panel)


AND THEN THE RODEO BURNED DOWN at Kings Head Theatre (Jan/Feb)



Theatre offers many excellent things – an Es Devlin waterfall, a Lucy Carter light show, Andrew Scott being everyone in “Uncle Vanya”. All jaw-dropping and admirable, but the essence of theatre, the thing right at the bottom which makes it the most important, most inclusive, most human art form, is the Peter Brook definition: there’s an empty space, someone walks across it, someone else watches. Simples. Pub theatres offer this no-frills essential theatre as a matter of course, and it can provide shows that are simply wonderful.

At the King’s Head theatre last January, two young women (Chloe Rice and Natasha Roland) performed a piece they had devised and written themselves, called “…And Then The Rodeo Burned Down”. It was notionally about two rodeo clowns cleaning up after the bulls and mustangs, and falling a little bit in love whilst they worked together. It allowed them to display a huge range of old-school clowning. There were prat-falls, slapstick, pantomime. It was funny. It was elegant. It was moving. It all happened three feet in front of the audience’s eyes, and it was absolutely delightful. Simple, magical theatre. There’s nothing better.


Nilgin Yusuf (Senior Reviewer and Awards Panel)


THE KASPER HAUSER EXPERIMENT at The Space Theatre (October)

 


This play by Manchester based theatre company Animikii really stayed with me. It gave audiences the gift of constantly unfurling surprise, you never knew what would happen next. It immersed me in both a theatrical experience, and a moment of real history when a strange boy appeared in a German Village claiming to have been kept in a cellar for 17 years. 

The fantastic, committed performances, the use of music, singing and improvisation, the non-linear storytelling, the polyphonic orchestration were all simply a joy. The Kasper Hauser Experiment demonstrated that the best experimental theatre comes from a rigorous approach to craft and created an emotional resonance that was both haunting and unforgettable. 


Srabani Sen (Senior Reviewer)

 

IN OTHER WORDS written and performed by Matthew Seager at Arcola Theatre (September)



By far my favourite show this year was "In other words", written and performed by Matthew Seager (Arcola, 5-23 September). With Lianne Harvey as his devoted but exhausted wife Jane, Seager plays Arthur, a man losing himself to dementia. Going backwards and forwards in time, we see Arthur and Jane from their first date until the present day. Arthur's increasing dementia is beautifully portrayed by Seager. As a writer he skillfully avoids over sentimentality to bring us this heartbreaking tale filled with love and compassion. I gave it five stars. I only wish I had more stars to award.


Mariam Mathew (Senior Reviewer, Awards Panel)

 

A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK by Roxy Cook at Theatre503 (December)



A Woman Walks into a Bank takes storytelling and stagecraft to a new level with Roxy Cook’s creative piece and David Allen’s incredible staging at Theatre503. Crisp, intricate and intertwining dialogue along with innovative flair capture the audience immediately. With three actors who are pin drop accurate with their dialogue, movement, and facial expressions, this play takes the serious nature of borrowing and lending money from banks in Moscow and bends believability with absurdist and physical humour. The three actors work in unison to create an experience that has sold out the house regularly through this run. I believe this show will return to amuse again.


Paul Maidment (Senior Reviewer, Awards Panel)


KITTY IN THE LANE written and performed by Áine Ryan at Brockley Jack Studio Theatre (May)

 


I think my favourite show this year was Kitty In The Lane. Áine Ryan's visceral, snarling performance was backed up by a set that was beautifully lit, and writing - by the uber talented Ryan herself - that fizzed. The rolling out of the back story is masterfully played and Ryan inhabits Kitty to give her total belief and believability. The gear shifts in tone and characterisation feel genuine and honest and, if the final reel appears a touch hurried, the ending is a satisfying denouement to a wild ride. Here's hoping that Kitty will return to these shores down the track.


Harry Conway (Reviewer)


NEXT DOOR’S BABY at Theatre at the Tabard (May)



Only truly excellent theatre can make you feel every emotion during its runtime, having you laugh one moment before leaving you on the verge of heartbreak the next. It’s even rarer that a show achieves this with a live piano in the room, and yet this year’s production of Next Door’s Baby at The Tabard Theatre accomplished all the above with an effortless grace that only added to its charm. The best play I saw in 2023 and easily the most heart-warming, it will stay with me for years to come. Fingers crossed for another run soon!


Heather Jeffery (Editor, Senior Reviewer, Awards Panel)


SCAVENGERS by Bryan Oliver at Etcetera Theatre (August) and ONE DAY WHEN WE WERE YOUNG by Nick Payne at Barons Court Theatre (May/June)

 


My personal top-notch watch of 2023 is divided between two incredible productions. McCarthy-esque dystopian drama SCAVENGERS by Bryan Oliver. It has tension, power play, three compelling performances (actors Matteo Piombino, Grace Richardson and Neil Hobbs), lighting and sound design which augments the story (the sound of that industrial lift firing up and coming downwards signalling terror is particularly effective), and something brutal to say.  It’s also remarkable for being largely the creative inspiration of one person, Bryan Oliver who is writer, director, sound & lighting designer. I have immense imagination and I’m more than willing to use it when watching versions of the future, but the slightest hesitation can break the illusion. This show is wholly in the zone.

 

Also blown away by ONE DAY WHEN WE WERE YOUNG by Nick Payne. This revival by young emerging company, Just a Regular House, brings immense detail to this epic drama which spans decades. The two actors (Laura Mugford and Joseph Ryan-Hughes) age before our eyes with impeccable physicality.  Their love story is completely believable, from the sacrifices of wartime Britain to rediscovery each other again in old age and it’s heartbreaking. All ably led by director Connor McCrory with the smoothest scene changes I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. 

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