2013 Year In Review: Natalie O'Donoghue's Best And Worst Of Theatre

I have seen a lot of excellent theatre this year and I have been really impressed with the standard of theatre outside of London. On the first leg of the Cabaret UK tour there was no Scottish date but it came to Edinburgh's King's Theatre in October second time around and I absolutely loved it. I have seen Will Young before and already knew he was an excellent performer but I was absolutely blown away by the rest of the talented cast.

Another big shiny tour that I was happy to see hitting regional theatre was the RENT: In Concert production at the Clyde Auditorium in May. The turnout for both this and Cabaret was huge and it makes it all the more frustrating when regional theatres are overlooked. RENT returned to Scotland on its second leg with performances at Edinburgh's King's Theatre and once again at the Clyde Auditorium in November and it comes back again on its third tour with a performance at His Majesty's Theatre in Aberdeen on February 15th.

The best singular performance for me was Madalena Alberto in the touring production of Evita at the King's Theatre Glasgow in June. She was a truly stunning Eva Peron and absolutely made the whole show for me.

I also saw a lot of fantastic shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The comedy highlights for me were Caroline Rhea and When I Grow Up and my favourite theatre pieces were The Adventures Of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer and Sam Rose In The Shadows.

I am reluctant to name something as the worst piece of theatre I saw in 2013 because I feel that just because something is not to my taste it doesn't necessarily make it bad. However, the performance I enjoyed least this year was Soul Sister at the King's Theatre in Glasgow in January. Based on the life and music of Tina Turner, I felt that was a recipe that couldn't really go wrong. However, for a professional production it seemed a little amateur and the format of the show meant the last few songs were done in a concert style. It felt like a Tina Turner tribute act and not a particularly good one.

Another disappointment was Carnaby Street, also at the King's Theatre in November. A jukebox musical with an excellent tracklist, it was let down by a thin and predictable plot. There were a lot of strong vocal performances but the acting wasn't quite up to scratch and a lot of the songs appeared to be shoehorned into the storyline.

If you've been watching theatre in Scotland this year, do comment and let me know what your favourite shows were - and what you think I should be looking out for in 2014!

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