Theatre Round-up 2016/17

[smallhobbit]

Time for a look back at my theatre trips over the past year:

Nov 2016   Mamma Mia   Novello Theatre
Nov 2016   Oil   Almeida Theatre   (Anne-Marie Duff)
Jan 2017   Harry Potter and the Cursed Child   Palace Theatre   (Jamie Parker)
Jan 2017   The Two Noble Kinsmen   RSC – Swan Theatre
Jan 2017   The Play That Goes Wrong   Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
Feb 2017   Jersey Boys   Piccadilly Theatre
Mar 2017   Hamlet  Almeida Theatre   (Andrew Scott)
Apr 2017   The Hypocrite   RSC – Swan Theatre
Jun 2017   Richard III   Arcola Theatre   (Greg Hicks)
Jun 2017   Common   National Theatre, Olivier   (Anne-Marie Duff)
Jul 2017   Titus Andronicus   RSC – RST   (David Troughton)
Jul 2017   Richard III   Gloucester Cathedral   (Antic Disposition)
Aug 2017   An American in Paris   Dominion Theatre
Aug 2017   Jesus Christ Superstar   Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Aug 2017   Against   Almeida Theatre   (Ben Whishaw)
Aug 2017   Ophelia: Madness (in Blue)   Swiss Church
Sep 2017   Trouble in Mind   Coronet, Print Room   (Jonathan Slinger)
Oct 2017   Coriolanus   RSC – RST
Oct 2017   Dido, Queen of Carthage   RSC – Swan Theatre

Only 19 plays - a fall over the last few years.  I'm not sure why in particular, although clearly I didn't see many plays in the spring - presumably nothing had a strong enough appeal.

Of these six (roughly a third) were Shakespeare, with a further two from the same period.  Of the others, five were new plays, and the rest were all comparatively modern. So a gap of over 300 years.

Destinations: 12 in London, 5 in Stratford-upon-Avon, 1 in Gloucester and 1 in Coventry (this year's new destination).

A selection of famous actors: Anne-Marie Duff, Jamie Parker, Andrew Scott, Ben Whishaw; plus three of the actors who draw me every time: Greg Hicks, David Troughton and Jonathan Slinger.

I tried to choose my three favourite plays of the year, but have failed - comparing such different productions is hard - so here's four (and I'm cheating): Titus Andronicus, Richard III (both versions), An American in Paris and Trouble in Mind.

And so into another year.  My aim is to see a minimum of twelve plays, and since I've already seen two and have a further ten booked I can be confident that aim will be met!

Comments

[dariaw]

This sounds like a lovely set of plays!

[smallhobbit]

Yes, it was a very interesting collection.

[vix_spes]

Yay for all of the plays! Nats and I were discussing this when we saw Young Marx the other week and how we've seen far fewer plays this year than we normally would - there just doesn't seem to be as many that have grabbed us for some reason.

You're doing better than me though if you have ten booked already!

[smallhobbit]

Yes, it was a strange year.

Partly we're catching up on plays others have already seen. I've booked for a couple of plays at the Donmar this time too - haven't been there for a while. And it's eleven now, with Macbeth which I booked on Monday. (Although technically one's a ballet - a play told by dancing.)