Cheryl Markosky

Grand dame Sian Phillips stealing the show, Adam Cooper giving an unexpected twirl and smaller theatre spaces punching above their weight. These are some of BroadwayWorld reviewer Cheryl Markosky's favourite theatre moments of 2024.

Siân Phillips steals the evening in Theatre Royal Bath's twin-bill tribute to Terence Rattigan's one-act plays: lesser-known Table Number Seven, and The Browning Version ­– hailed by critics as 'a 70-minute masterpiece' when first performed at London's Phoenix Theatre in 1948.

The Coronet's co-production with the Norwegian Ibsen Company (NIC) and Bergen's Den Nationale Scene examines the dangers of idealism through the story of the Ekdal family ripped apart by the arrival of Hjalmar Ekdal's childhood friend, Gregers Werle (also the son of wealthy industrialist Hakon). Read the review.

It's one of the most unlikely moments in the history of entertainment. Two bespectacled 50-something English historians, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, bound onto the stage of the Royal Albert Hall, like rock stars, to tumultuous applause. Eat your heart out, Mick and Keith!

Ahmed deftly weaves humour and tragedy through an entertaining and deeply touching story about a son discovering more about his recently deceased father when he uncovers secrets while packing up his council flat in South Kilburn. See what our critic had to say.

The Irish are renowned for good story telling. From James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett and George Bernard Shaw, to simply a good yarn over a pint in a pub. In a long line of cracking good tales, you couldn't get much better than the new immersive revival of Marie Jones' tragicomedy Stones in His Pockets.

What did our critic think of 1984 at Theatre Royal Bath?

Obsessive behaviour takes many forms, from philatelists hunting down rare stamps, ambitious chefs refining gastronomic dishes and online gamers playing through the night to reach the next level. Check out what we thought of the new play here.

What is the purpose of education? Is it to get a place at a hallowed university to ensure a high-paying job and successful future? Or to expand minds and acquire knowledge for knowledge's sake?

If you're after certainty, then you should certainly steer clear of the revival of Harold Pinter's unsettling The Birthday Party at the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath. However, if you're up for an intriguing evening of comic surrealism mixed with creepy horror – think the Coen brothers meet Wes Anderson meet Kafka – this fresh take on one of Pinter's early plays is a must.

Jupp's new play, Wormholes, is currently running at the Omnibus Theatre in London's Clapham Common. As well as writing Wormholes, she's also producing it. BroadwayWorld caught up with Emily to chat about the play.

You simply can't take your eyes off Victoria Yeates (Call the Midwife, Fantastic Beasts, Ben and Imo, The Crucible), who's completely captivating in Emily Jupp's one-woman play, Wormholes, at bijou Omnibus Theatre on London's Clapham Common. Her portrayal of a bubbly young woman broken by a controlling partner in a coercive and abusive relationship is West End standard – but without the hassle of actually having to go into the West End. 

Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning Saul Bellow had this to say about rejections: 'I discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, 'To hell with you.''

If you're after tension, you'll find it aplenty in Faith Omole's new play at the Bush Theatre.

What did our critic think of IZZARD HAMLET at Riverside Studios?

Tamsin Greig is a marvel as Hester Collyer in Lindsay Posner's new revival of Terence Rattigan's 1950s classic, The Deep Blue Sea, at Theatre Royal Bath's intimate, 126-seater Ustinov Studio.

In the summer of 1962, Sir Laurence Olivier invited lighting designer Richard Pilbrow to 'sort out the bloody awful lighting' at Chichester Theatre two days before it opened. Pilbrow replied there was nothing he could do in so short a time. 'Well, you're no bloody use, are you?' Olivier quipped.

What can be more cheering on a dreary, wet evening than seeing a jolly Alan Ayckbourn comedy?

If you've ever idolised a lesser-known band and endlessly reminisce about its utter brilliance through rose-tinted spectacles, then This Is Memorial Device at Riverside Studios is a must-see.

The Pandemic and its consequences, especially on 20- and 30-somethings, are explored in the BBC's world premiere of U.Me: The Complete Musical.