smallhobbit | Theatre Roundup 2017/18

Now for this year's roundup (for those who are confused, my theatre year runs from my birthday).

Nov 2017   The Woman in Black Fortune Theatre
Nov 2017   Beginning Dorfman Theatre – NT   (Sam Troughton)
Nov 2017   The Wipers Times Cheltenham Everyman
Nov 2017   Young Marx Bridge Theatre   (Rory Kinnear)
Dec 2017    Ink Duke of York’s Theatre   (Bertie Carvel)
Dec 2017   Cinderella Sadler’s Wells   (Matthew Bourne version)
Dec 2017   Heisenburg: The Uncertainty Principle Wyndhams Theatre   (Anne-Marie Duff)
Jan 2018   Belleville Donmar Warehouse   (James Norton)
Jan 2018   The Open House Print Room at the Coronet   (Greg Hicks)
Feb 2018   42^nd Street Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Mar 2018   Julius Caesar Bridge Theatre   (Ben Whishaw, David Morrissey)
May 2018   The Ferryman Gielgud Theatre
May 2018   The Way of the World Donmar Warehouse
May 2018   Macbeth Olivier – NT   (Rory Kinnear, Anne-Marie Duff)
June 2018   The Moderate Soprano Duke of York’s Theatre   (Roger Allam)
July 2018   Much Ado About Nothing Gloucester Cathedral   (Antic Disposition)
Aug 2018   Carmen la Cubana Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Aug 2018   Allelujah! Bridge Theatre   (Samuel Barnett)
Aug 2018   Hamilton Victoria Palace Theatre
Aug 2018   The Lieutenant of Innishmore Noel Coward Theatre   (Aidan Turner)
Aug 2018   The Merry Wives of Windsor Royal Shakespeare Theatre – RSC   (David Troughton)
Oct 2018   Stories Dorfman – NT   (Sam Troughton, Stephen Boxer)

I'm back to roughly my usual number, 22 plays this year (I do stretch the definition slightly since this includes ballet and musicals).

Only four Shakespeare plays, clearly the Bard is losing his pull, and it will take an actor I particularly want to see to encourage me to go. About one-third were new plays. And I saw the majority of plays because of at least one of the actors. The other thing, which won't be apparent from the list, is that whereas before I would go up to London specifically for a matinée there are only two plays in the list for which this was true. Every other time has involved an overnight stay for one reason or another.

Destinations: 19 in London; 1 in Stratford-upon-Avon; 1 in Gloucester; 1 in Cheltenham. Which is quite unusual, but it's not as if I've had much time to go elsewhere. And the usual selection of actors I like, including my first time seeing Aidan Turner.

It's hard choosing my favourites, but I shall go for The Wipers Times, 42nd Street, and The Merry Wives of Windsor.

A few months ago

mafief asked me how many theatres I'd been to in London, so I listed them for myself, and came up with a total of 40, plus 10 in different parts of the country.