2015 In Review: Natalie O'Donoghue's Best And Worst Of Theatre!

I feel as though every year when I write these articles I claim that this has been the best year for theatre. However, 2015 really does feel like it has been the best year for theatre!

Some of the performances that I have enjoyed the most are the ones that took me by surprise. In June this year I was already looking forward to seeing Louise Dearman and Lorna Luft in The Songbook of Judy Garland but was taken aback by how much I loved it! I also knew little about Twelve Angry Men before I went to see it this summer and was completely blown away. The King's Theatre had an incredible programme this year with the biggest UK tours stopping by. The Bodyguard, Shrek, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Jersey Boys are just a few of the huge productions that came to the King's this year.

The Edinburgh Fringe festival is one of the most important parts of my theatre year and I saw a lot of excellent productions this year. After losing my sense of humour during some point in August 2014, I dialled back on the comedy at the festival a little and my Fringe was all the better for it. I saw some fantastic new musical theatre productions like Love Birds, Ushers and UKIP! The Musical. I'm not sure if "beautiful storytelling with low-fi puppetry" is an actual genre, but it should be. Two of my favourite productions fit into this category- Bruce and Cell. Both had really simplistic puppets and both made me bawl my eyes out. This year was a fantastic year for plays at the Fringe and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Labels and Wendy Hoose had a huge impact on me.

While I review mainly in Glasgow, I have seen a lot of excellent new theatre in the West End this year as well. Potentially my favourite new London show is the wonderful Kinky Boots. The music is fantastic and it is such a fun show, I'm desperate to get back and see it again! I also loved seeing Beautiful shortly after it opened. Gypsy was another must-see - Imelda Staunton really is as incredible as everybody says she is! Finally, my other London favourite this year was the play Ticking at Trafalgar Square Studios. I confess that my motivation for buying tickets for Ticking was primarily a Buffy nerd desperate to see Anthony Head in person, but I thoroughly enjoyed the gritty drama and it was one of the highlights of my theatre year.

I was also thrilled when Idina Menzel announced her UK tour. While she has always been a big name to theatre goers you could tell by the amount of tiny people in blue princess dresses in the audience that she has recently hit a wider audience. The concert was nearly identical to her 2012 tour but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway.

One show jumps out at me as the worst one I saw all year and that was Miracle on 34th Street in November. Everything about this production made me angry that I had to sit through it. There have been a few other that I didn't really enjoy but none that I felt quite as strongly about as Miracle on 34th Street!

While it isn't a show, the worst theatre-related event of 2015 for me was the closure of The Arches. Having worked in the venue for many years as well as seeing many incredible performances there, it was heartbreaking and has affected the arts community in Glasgow massively. The Arches was regarded as the cultural heart of the city and I can't believe it is gone.

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