Shakespeare

Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London. Photo: Jim Stephenson

Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London

This was a tremendous year for the Lyric Hammersmith, which put the challenges of the pandemic firmly behind it. Under artistic director Rachel O’Riordan and executive director Amy Belson’s leadership, the Lyric has bounced back to even higher levels than before the lockdowns, reporting an annual average audience attendance of 75% capacity, versus 56% in 2019.

Across the 12 months, the Lyric welcomed more than 300,000 visitors. Its programme included Accidental Death of Anarchist, which transferred to the West End, the UK premiere of School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play (for which 47% of audience members identified as black or from the global majority), The Good Person of Szechwan and a revival of God of Carnage.

Its bumper year means the theatre is on track to deliver a surplus budget in 2023 – with income from the theatre programme contributing 60% of the venue’s turnover – no mean feat at a time when the costs of running a theatre remain so high. Commercial activities generated an income of £1.2 million, and its overall success means the organisation has been able to make what it has labelled a “significant” capital project improvement and reward staff with a 5% salary increase.

Meanwhile, the Lyric’s actor training programme Springboard found success with 77% of its participants securing agent representation in 2023, topping off a triumphant year all round for the theatre.

Birmingham Rep

Birmingham Rep Theatre

Under artistic director Sean Foley, Birmingham Rep staged three world premieres in 2023, two of which transferred to the West End: Spitting Image the Musical – co-written and directed by Foley – and Ian Hallard’s The Way Old Friends Do. The theatre also brought a touch of Broadway to Birmingham with the premiere of Sinatra the Musical, led by Tony award-winners Joe DiPietro, Kathleen Marshall and Matt Doyle. It was co-produced with Tina Sinatra – the singer’s daughter – and Universal Music Group, and has been billed as the largest show the Rep has ever produced. The three shows helped contribute to what the venue says was its best year in recent history.

Meanwhile, associate director Iqbal Khan helmed a revival of Of Mice and Men, the first significant production of the show to cast an actor with learning disabilities as Lennie-Wiliam Young was subsequently nominated as part of the Rep’s three UK Theatre Awards nominations. Alongside its co-producing partners, the theatre went on to win the excellence in touring prize for Dave Johns’ stage version of I, Daniel Blake.

Off stage, the theatre has also been a hub of activity, launching the Victoria Wood Playwriting Prize for Comedy, a £25,000 playwriting award, while mentorships programme Sky Comedy Rep developed eight new writers’ scripts from pitch to production, performed by a specially formed repertory company.

Elsewhere, its Foundry scheme is currently training eight new community theatre artists around the city, and the venue became Birmingham’s first Theatre of Sanctuary.

National Theatre, London. Photo: Shutterstock

National Theatre, London

London’s National Theatre marked its 60th anniversary in 2023 and it did so in style. It pulled in 17.5 million people both in person and online and produced 31 plays and musicals – with seven West End transfers and two shows in New York – the most prolific season in its history.

Among its many production highlights were James Graham’s Dear England, which transferred to the Prince Edward Theatre (becoming the first play to be staged there in 75 years), and its musical adaptation of The Witches, which has been thrilling audiences with its deliciously dark staging since November. Elsewhere, The Ocean at the End of the Lane went on a 31-stop UK and Ireland tour, culminating in a second West End run, and has now been seen by audiences of more than 200,000. The NT’s co-production of Standing at the Sky’s Edge won the Olivier award for best new musical, a UK Theatre award for best musical production and a South Bank Sky Arts award. It will transfer to the Gillian Lynne Theatre in 2024.

Away from its main stages, the NT’s learning programmes reached every local authority in the UK. It toured the productions Shut Up, I’m Dreaming (for secondary schools) and Hamlet (for primary schools) to a combined 159 schools across the country, reaching more than 15,000 students. Currently, 85% of UK state secondary schools are signed up to the National Theatre Collection, allowing schools to stream 70 world-class productions directly into classrooms for free, an admirable move against a backdrop of the nationwide decline in school theatre trips.

This year also delivered the National’s most ambitious Public Acts initiative: The Odyssey, a production told in five episodes by community companies across the country – at Restoke in Stoke-on-Trent, Cast in Doncaster, Trowbridge Town Hall in Trowbridge, Sunderland Culture in partnership with Sunderland Empire Theatre and at the National’s South Bank home.

Sherman Theatre, Cardiff. Photo: Shutterstock

Sherman Theatre, Cardiff

It was a landmark year for the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff, which marked half a century since it first opened its doors. The South Wales producing house celebrated with a range of impressive shows, from both emerging and established voices in Welsh theatre.

This included the world premiere of Nia Morais’ Imrie, which went on to secure its star Elan Davies a win for Best Performer in a Play at The Stage Debut Awards 2023. Meanwhile, Gary Owen – whose work has become synonymous with the Sherman Theatre – brought his five-star new work Romeo and Julie to the theatre, in a co-production with the National.

Other programming highlights included Housemates, an uplifting comedy co-produced with Hijinx, and a revival of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in which the fairies all spoke Welsh.

Led by artistic director Joe Murphy, the Sherman also celebrated its community with Love, Cardiff: 50 Years of Your Stories, described as “a major moment” in its 50th birthday celebrations, when communities from across the city took to the main stage to share their stories of the theatre.

For a second year, the theatre also worked with the Pleasance to support an emerging Welsh or Wales-based company to present their work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with inclusive theatre company StammerMouth, presenting CHOO CHOO! at the event and winning a Fringe First award. It ended the year of celebrations with 50 for 50, which gave 50 families who had never attended the Sherman the opportunity to see its Christmas shows for free.

All of this contributed to a theatremaking work that is both firmly rooted in its local community but of a genuinely world-class standard.

Watermill Theatre, Newbury

The end of 2022 dealt the Watermill a huge blow when the venue was stripped of its annual £450,000 funding from Arts Council England.

Once the shock had subsided, the Newbury theatre took stock and came back fighting, with artistic director Paul Hart and executive director Claire Murray reaffirming their commitment to “serving our audiences and the communities of West Berkshire and to contributing to the UK’s thriving cultural ecology”. And what a comeback they staged, too.

In the summer of 2023, the Watermill put on what has arguably been its most ambitious show to date, the musical version of The Lord of the Rings. Gone was the overblown staging seen in the West End and instead came a production that managed to be intimate and epic, making use of the venue’s 220-seat auditorium and Shire-like outside spaces in a truly unique, immersive production.

Other highlights included the stage adaptation of Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Small Island and Kate Summerscale’s The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, a revival of Barney Norris’ award-winning play Visitors and an adaptation of Mansfield Park with Zimbabwean company Two Gents.

Its funding may have been dented, but its ambition certainly wasn’t. As Murray – who was recently named joint chief executive alongside Hart – said at the time of its announcement: “Staging The Lord of the Rings reflects that our ambition hasn’t been diminished by the loss of Arts Council England funding. We’re continuing to invest in the work on our stages, in the talented artists who create this work and in reaching and connecting with audiences locally and nationally.”