If you saw my '2022 year in review' post you will know that I went to 82 shows in 2022, 14 of them were plays.
Unlike with the musicals category it was honestly easy to pick my favourite play of the year:
🥇 Hands down the best play I saw last year was A Very Expensive Poison by Lucy Prebble at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, by the final year BA Acting students.
The quality of the production, the writing and the acting were all phenomenal. I didn't expect it to be as funny as it was and the cast was full of actors with great presence and comic timing. An outstanding production!
🌟 I have to mention Prima Facie which was a difficult play to "enjoy" due to the harrowing subject matter and the brutal truth disclosed that it's incredibly difficult to prosecute rape and sexual assault cases. Many victims give up or worse, are embarrassed or bullied into dropping it. However it was absolutely worth my tears. It's an important and hard-hitting piece.
Prima Facie, although distressing, makes it onto my favourites of the year not least because of the extraordinary performance from Jodie Comer. She has to be seen to be believed. I don't know how she did it. I'm still in awe months later. Remarkable!
🌟 Lastly I want to mention the world premier of The Book Thief musical by Octagon Theatre, Bolton here. OK, yes, I'll admit I totally mis-categorised it as a play on my spreadsheet when it is clearly, in fact, a musical (it says so on the poster Lisa!) but it has the dramatic impact of a play, so here we are.
The Book Thief is a thoroughly well written and acted piece of theatre. It's one thing to read about the horrors of World War II and the holocaust, but to see some of it first hand is unforgettable and incredibly powerful.
[First posted on Instagram 10 January 2023]
Lisa in the Theatre 2022 favourite shows: Plays / drama. A Very Expensive Poison by Lucy Prebble at RCS, Jodie Comer in Prima Facie
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