Five of the Best!

At the midpoint of 2025, here's a selection of five sensational productions from an already exceptional year for the theatre.

Looking back on the great run of shows we've already seen, it seems as though 2025 has been a real bumper year for us theatregoers - both in London and internationally.

Here, in chronological order, are my Top Five of the Year So Far...

N.B. I apologise in advance for this list being so male-dominated. Fortunately, there are a run of exciting female-led productions coming up to put this right soon: Rosamund Pike making her National Theatre debut in 'Inter Alia', Susan Sarandon and Andrea Riseborough co-starring in the UK premiere of Tracy Letts' 'Mary Page Marlowe' at The Old Vic, and Jodie Comer reprising her role in the international theatrical smash-hit 'Prima Facie' on-tour. The latter sold-out in lightning-speed but I'd book the others while you still have a chance!

The Seagull - Barbican Theatre

Directed by Thomas Ostermeier. Cast: Cate Blanchett (Irina Arkadina), Tom Burke (Alexander Trigorin), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Konstantin), Emma Corrin (Nina)

There was a huge amount of hype around this production - a classic play starring a great actress, adapted and directed by an internationally-acclaimed director. It was a major feat that it not only lived up to expectations but created a truly riveting 3+ hours of theatre. Like many commonly-revived ensemble plays, it's always interesting to see which characters/relationships come to the fore. In this production, the Arkadina/Trigorin relationship seemed to be the focus of the play. It's little surprise that Blanchett was always captivating whilst onstage - an often raw, self-deprecating performance - but Tom Burke was more subtly brilliant. He seemed to imbue Trigorin with a subtle, sinister energy. At first a passive, gentle presence - the quiet genius - he comes to destroy the young, naive Nina seemingly for sport. Ostermeier's direction was playful and provocative - when a character directly confronts the illuminated audience with 'what are we doing here?' The entire auditorium was struck mute in the charged silence that followed - perhaps under the weight of our sense of collective shame.

Glengarry Glen Ross - Palace Theatre, New York

Directed by Patrick Marber. Cast: Bob Odenkirk (Shelley Levene), Kieran Culkin (Ricky Roma), Bill Burr (Dave Moss), Michael McKean (George Aaronow)

Having started the year remarking on a notable backlash against star-casting, it's perhaps hypocritical of me to approve of this production. (Broadway certainly didn't seem converted by my scathing remarks on the laziness of employing big names for easy box office returns - see George Clooney in Good Night, and Good Luck and Denzel Washington vs. Jake Gyllenhall in Othello.) Nevertheless, the meeting of this heavyweight cast with Mamet's play felt unmissable and mostly didn't disappoint. If some depth of pathos was lost - Odenkirk's downfall didn't have the tragic impact of Jack Lemmon's cinematic portrayal - all of the comic beats landed better than ever. The macho-assuredness of Mamet's little men met the moment in Trump-America and enriched the dark satire at the heart of the play. And I can't deny that the sensational mix of comedic personalities playing off each other - Odenkirk, Culkin, Bill Burr and a brilliant, if underused, Michael McKean - made for superb theatre.

Krapp's Last Tape - York Theatre Royal

Directed/Designed by Gary Oldman. Cast: Gary Oldman (Krapp)

Another eagerly-anticipated production which succeeded in living-up to expectations - Gary Oldman made a triumphant return to the stage after a 37-year absence as Samuel Beckett's tragic sexagenarian. Dedicating his performance to previous great stage Krapps John Hurt and Michael Gambon - whose tape recorder he shared - he delivered a performance which was not afraid of sitting in silence. Although more noticeably 'acted' than his predecessors, Oldman was most captivating when he did nothing - as if his soul had left his body, absorbed entirely by the memory he compulsively replays. The final moment: the lights very slowly dim as he sits unmoving, staring out as the finished tape is left running, intermittently flapping on the spool, until only the red beam on the side of the tape player is illuminated. Blackout. 

The Fifth Step - @sohoplace

Directed by Finn den Hertog. Cast: Jack Lowden, (Luka) Martin Freeman (James)

The only new play on this list - a two-hander by David Ireland. The overall arc of the story isn't hard to predict from the first scene but the action is no less enthralling for it thanks to Ireland's brilliant script and expertly-managed tension throughout. The in-the-round audience at @sohoplace were at times an audible feature of the action - gasping and sometimes murmuring for an inevitable revelation to come, though the playwright was usually one step ahead of the anticipants. Martin Freeman and Jack Lowden - both effortless theatre performers - felt in their element in the space, and entirely alive in Ireland's dialogue.

I definitely recommend you catch this if you can.

Playing at @sohoplace until 26th July: https://nimaxtheatres.com/shows/the-fifth-step/

The run is currently sold out but there are a limited number of £25 Day Seats available in person from 11am.

A Moon for the Misbegotten - Almeida Theatre

Directed by Rebecca Frecknall. Cast: Ruth Wilson (Josie Hogan), Michael Shannon (James Tyrone Jr.), David Threlfall (Phil Hogan)

Rebecca Frecknall continues her run of critically-acclaimed Great American revivals with this rarely-performed Eugene O'Neill play. The three main cast members are uniformly excellent - with Ruth Wilson headlining. Once described in the play as a 'big ugly hulk', it's a testament to her performance that the audience overlook the unlikely casting. Michael Shannon - a volatile, intense screen presence - is remarkable as James Tyrone, entirely inhabiting the role. David Threlfall completes the core cast - a remarkable actor who once played Edgar to Olivier's King Lear on-screen. His comic Irish blusterer is a perfect counterpoint to Shannon's tormented soul. There's a rich seam of levity throughout but they don't shirk from the profound, and always allow the play to take its time.

A rare wonder of a cast and a perfect production for the intimate Almeida space.

See this play before it's too late!

Playing at the Almeida Theatre until 16th August: https://almeida.co.uk/whats-on/a-moon-for-the-misbegotten/