Top plays of the year

Top 10 of 2021

1. Anything Goes, Barbican
2. The Normal Heart, National Theatre
3. Constellations, Vaudeville Theatre
4. Cabaret, The Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre
5. What They Forgot To Tell Us (and other stories), BOLD Elephant
6. DJ Bazzer’s Year 6 Disco, Golden Goose Theatre
7. Still Life: Untold Stories of Nottingham Now
8. Mum, Soho Theatre
9. Gay Generations, White Bear Theatre
10. Romeo and Juliet

Top 25 of 2019

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Southwark Playhouse
2. Call Me Fury, Hope Theatre
3. West Side Story, Curve Leicester
4. As You Like It, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch
5. Islander, Southwark Playhouse
6. Amélie the Musical, Watermill Theatre/UK Tour/The Other Palace
7. & Juliet, Shaftesbury Theatre
8. Sexy Lamp, VAULT
9. Karaoke Play, Bunker Theatre
10. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, National Theatre
11. Three Sisters, National Theatre
12. The Boy Friend, Menier Chocolate Factory
13. West Side Story, Royal Exchange 
14. My White Best Friend, Bunker Theatre
15. Small Island, National Theatre
16. Mary Poppins, Prince Edward Theatre
17. De Kersentuin, ITA
18. Holly Morgan: Is A Witch, Get Her!, VAULT
19. Country Music, Omnibus Theatre
20. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bridge Theatre
21. Evita, Open Air Theatre
22. Waitress, Adelphi
23. The Strange Case of Jekyll & Hyde, Brockley Jack
24. The View UpStairs, Soho Theatre
25. Downstate, National Theatre

Top 25 of 2018

1. Pericles, National Theatre
2. Jellyfish, Bush Theatre
3. Company, Gielgud Theatre
4. Sunshine on Leith, Leeds Playhouse
5. The Inheritance, Young Vic/Noel Coward Theatre
6. To Have To Shoot Irishmen, Omnibus Clapham
7. Bury the Hatchet, Hope Theatre
8. Nine Night, National Theatre/Trafalgar Studios
9. Hadestown, National Theatre
10. Sweat, Donmar Warehouse
11. ear for eye, Royal Court
12. Leave Taking, Bush Theatre
13. Emilia, Shakespeare’s Globe
14. The Wild Duck, Almeida Theatre
15. Girls and Boys, Royal Court
16. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Watermill
17. Drip, Bush Theatre
18. Lucid, RADA
19. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Donmar Warehouse
20. Fun Home, Young Vic
21. Oedipus, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam
22. Brass, Union Theatre
23. The Writer, Almeida Theatre
24. The Convert, Young Vic
25. The Rink, Southwark Playhouse

Top 25 of 2017

1. The Revlon Girl, Park Theatre
2. A Little Night Music, Watermill Theatre
3. Barber Shop Chronicles, National Theatre
4. Hamilton, Victoria Palace THeatre
5. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Crucible/Apollo Theatre
6. An Octoroon, Orange Tree Theatre
7. Follies, National Theatre
8. Romantics Anonymous, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
9. Hamlet, Almeida Theatre
10. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾, Menier Chocolate Factory 
11. Yank! A WWII Love Story, Charing Cross Theatre
12. Girl From The North Country, Old Vic
13. a profoundly affectionate, passionate devotion to someone (-noun), Royal Court
14. The Ferryman, Royal Court
15. King Lear, Minerva
16. Frankenstein, Brockley Jack Theatre
17. Trestle, Southwark Playhouse
18. Little Women the Musical, Hope Mill
19. The Glass Menagerie, Duke of York’s
20. Twelfth Night, Royal Exchange
21. Beginning, National Theatre
22. Caroline or Change, Minerva
23. Network, National Theatre
24. The Life, Southwark Playhouse
25. Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Wyndham’s Theatre

Top 25 of 2016

1. Mary Stuart, Almeida Theatre
2. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, National Theatre
3. Minefield, Royal Court
4. Escaped Alone, Royal Court
5. A Raisin in the Sun, Eclipse at the Albany
6. Pink Mist, Bush Theatre
7. Steel Magnolias, Hope Theatre
8. The Grinning Man, Bristol Old Vic
9. Jess and Joe Forever, Orange Tree Theatre
10. BU21, Theatre503
11. The Maids, Trafalgar Studios
12. Cuttin’ It, Young Vic
13. Amadeus, National Theatre
14. Grey Gardens, Southwark Playhouse
15. Les Blancs, National Theatre
16. Hedda Gabler, National Theatre
17. Ragtime, Charing Cross Theatre
18. Two Short Plays About Gays, Hope Theatre
19. The Children, Royal Court
20. Yerma, Young Vic
21. Anna Karenina, Arrows and Traps
22. Scenes from 68* Years, Arcola Theatre
23. Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Bristol Old Vic
24. Kings of War, Toneelgroep Amsterdam
25. The Last Five Years, St James Theatre

Top 25 of 2015

1. Eclipsed, Gate Theatre
2. Oresteia, Almeida Theatre
3. Lela & Co., Royal Court
4. Little Shop of Horrors, Royal Exchange
5. hang, Royal Court
6. Radiant Vermin, Soho Theatre
7. Plastic Figurines, New Diorama Theatre
8. Hangmen, Royal Court
9. Kinky Boots, Adelphi Theatre
10. The Effect, Sheffield Studio
11. Violence and Son, Royal Court
12. Show Boat, Crucible
13. Mrs Henderson Presents, Theatre Royal Bath
14. Carmen Disruption, Almeida Theatre
15. Xanadu, Southwark Playhouse
16. The Clockmaker’s Daughter, Landor Theatre
17. Sense of an Ending, Theatre503
18. Glazen Speelgoed, Toneelgroep Amsterdam
19. The Lorax, Old Vic
20. Measure for Measure, Cheek By Jowl
21. Rules for Living, National Theatre
22. Measure for Measure, Young Vic
23. The Beaux’ Stratagem, National Theatre
24. La Musica, Young Vic
25. My Eyes Went Dark, Finborough Theatre

Top 25 of 2014

1. A View from the Bridge, Young Vic
2. A Streetcar Named Desire, Young Vic
3. In The Heights, Southwark Playhouse                       
4. Here Lies Love, National Theatre
5. Gypsy, CFT
6. Maria Stuart, Toneelgroep Amsterdam
7. Mr Burns, Almeida Theatre  
8. Sweeney Todd, Tooting Arts Club
9. King Charles III, Almeida Theatre                          
10. The Wild Duck, Belvoir Sydney
11. Visitors, Arcola Theatre
12. Medea, Toneelgroep Amsterdam
13. Good People, Hampstead Theatre
14. Adler & Gibb, Royal Court
15. Free As Air, Finborough Theatre
16. No Barriers With Barriers
17. Dark Vanilla Jungle, Soho Theatre
18. Johnny Got His Gun, Southwark Playhouse
19. Made in Dagenham, Adelphi Theatre
20. Wet House, Soho Theatre
21. The James Plays, National Theatre
22. Next Fall, Southwark Playhouse
23. My Night With Reg, Donmar Warehouse
24. True West, Tricycle Theatre
25. The Silver Tassie, National Theatre

Top 25 of 2013

1. Scenes from a Marriage, Toneelgroep Amsterdam
2. Jumpers for Goalposts, Paines Plough
3. The Light Princess, National Theatre
4. Armstrong’s War, Finborough Theatre
5. Grounded, Bush Theatre
6. Chimerica, Almeida Theatre
7. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s Globe
8. The Sound of Music, Open Air Theatre
9. Ghosts, Almeida Theatre
10. Let The Right One In, Royal Court
11. Edward II, National Theatre
12. Before the Party, Almeida Theatre
13. The Amen Corner, National Theatre
14. The Weir, Donmar Warehouse
15. American Psycho, Almeida Theatre
16. The Djinns of Eidjah, Royal Court
17. Roots, Donmar Warehouse
18. A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Rose Kingston
19. Once, Phoenix Theatre
20. All My Sons, Royal Exchange
21. Handbagged, Tricycle Theatre
22. Smallholding, Nuffield
23. Iron, Old Red Lion
24. Bloedbruiloft, Frascati
25. The Color Purple, Menier Chocolate Factory

Top 25 of 2012

1. My Fair Lady, Crucible
2. Lungs, Paines Plough
3. Constellations, Royal Court
4. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, National Theatre
5. Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Apollo Theatre
6. ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore, Cheek by Jowl
7. Hello, Dolly!, Curve
8. A Doll’s House, Young Vic
9. The Busy Body, Southwark Playhouse
10. Straight, Bush Theatre
11. Merrily We Roll Along, Menier Chocolate Factory
12. The Effect, National Theatre
13. Twelfth Night, Propeller
14. Boy Meets Boy, Jermyn Street Theatre
15. The Last of the Haussmans, National Theatre
16. Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Southwark Playhouse
17. Swallows and Amazons, CFT
18. The River, Royal Court
19. In Basildon, Royal Court
20. Uncle Vanya, Print Room
21. Victor/Victoria, Southwark Playhouse
22. The Winter’s Tale, Propeller
23. Elegy, Theatre503
24. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Open Air Theatre
25. Lost In Yonkers, Watford Palace

Top 25 of 2011

1. Matilda, a musical, RSC
2. London Road, National Theatre
3. The Tempest, Cheek by Jowl
4. Singin’ in the Rain, CFT
5. The Comedy of Errors, Propeller
6. The Kitchen Sink, Bush Theatre
7. Company, Crucible
8. Flare Path, Theatre Royal Haymarket
9. Ecstasy, Hampstead Theatre
10. For Once, Hampstead Theatre
11. Sweeney Todd, CFT
12. Many Moons, Theatre503
13. Reasons to be Pretty, Almeida Theatre
14. Anna Christie, Donmar Warehouse
15. Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare’s Globe
16. The Pitmen Painters, National Theatre
17. 13, National Theatre
18. Ragtime, Landor Theatre
19. The Village Bike, Royal Court
20. Di and Viv and Rose, Hampstead Theatre
21. The Hired Man, Landor Theatre
22. Noises Off, Old Vic
23. Perchance to Dream, Finborough Theatre
24. Me and My Girl, Crucible
25. Parade, Southwark Playhouse

Top 25 of 2010

1. Tribes, Royal Court
2. You Me Bum Bum Train
3. Palace of the End, Arcola Theatre
4. Love Love Love, Paines Plough
5. After the Dance, National Theatre
6. Once Upon A Time at the Adephi, Union Theatre
7. Love Story, Duchess Theatre
8. Les Misérables, Barbican
9. All My Sons, Apollo Theatre
10. Nevermore, Barbican
11. Salad Days, Riverside Studios
12. Holding the Man, Trafalgar Studios
13. Broken Glass, Tricycle Theatre
14. The Man, Finborough Theatre
15. The Drowsy Chaperone, Upstairs at the Gatehouse
16. Legally Blonde The Musical, Savoy Theatre
17. Henry IV Part I&II, Shakespeare’s Globe
18. The Glass Menagerie, Young Vic
19. State Fair, Trafalgar Studios
20. Iolanthe, Union Theatre
21. The Road to Mecca, Arcola Theatre
22. Clybourne Park, Royal Court
23. Richard III, Propeller 
24. The White Guard, National Theatre
25. Romeo & Juliet, RSC

Top 10 of 2009

1. The Roman Tragedies, Toneelgroep Amsterdam
2. Our Class, National Theatre
3. When The Rain Stops Falling, Almeida Theatre
4. Hello, Dolly!, Open Air Theatre
5. La Cage Aux Folles, Playhouse Theatre
6. A Streetcar Named Desire, Donmar Warehouse
7. Arcadia, Duke of York’s Theatre
8. Enron, Headlong
9. Sweet Charity, Menier Chocolate Factory
10. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Palace Theatre