BWW Reviews: Kaite Welsh's Review of the Year

It's that time of year again – when critics and bloggers alike put forward their highlights and low points of the year's theatre. As I can't pass a bandwagon without jumping on it, here is my best - and worst - of 2011.

The Good

My hands-down favourite play of the year is Miriam Cooper's one-woman show, Prostitutes Marry in May. The rivalry between Elizabeth I and her cousin Mary Queen of Scots is a well-documented one, but this meticulously researched - but never dry - production reminded me why. The script drew on speeches both women made, but luckily Cooper steered clear of the "I have the body of a weak and feeble woman" clichés. Both women spent their lives under a microscope, and both relish
their chance to have their say and correct the rumours that make – or mar - their reputations.

Shifting seamlessly between characters with only subtle changes in posture and a dramatic change in accent to signal the transformation, Cooper never once failed to convince. Her quick-fire exchange between Mary and John Knox were a delight to watch, and her portrayal of Bothwell's rape of Mary was harrowing and the play deserves an award nomination for that scene alone.

The small space of the Waterloo East Theatre is alternately intimate and claustrophobic, making it a perfect venue for this production. Although sparsely filled the night I attended, it deserves to be packed to the rafters.

The Bad

When I reviewed A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson for BWW earlier this year, I likened it to like being cornered by your drunk uncle at a party. That was the most polite thing I could say about it, and still is.

The Overrated

Much Ado About Nothing at the Wyndham's was an enjoyable night out, but little more. This was the Tennant and Tate show, and whilst the leads were always fun to watch, the play suffered as a consequence. David Tennant's Benedict was the right balance of playful and cynical, and his presence reminded me just how perfectly he's suited to Shakespeare, but he overshadowed the rest of the cast. Catherine Tate was on fine form as Catherine Tate - whilst enjoyable, her Beatrice paled into comparison next to Eve Best's portrayal across the river at The Globe.

There were some sparkling touches in this 1980s-set production – Hero's wedding dress was an exact replica of Princess Diana's, and setting chunks of dialogue to 80's power ballads was entertainingly catchy – but the overall feel was that it was Shakespeare for people who don't really like Shakespeare.

The 'Wish I'd Seen'

Due to a combination of holidays and far too much work, I never got around to seeing Top Girls and that failure haunts me to this day. I fully expect it to get at least one nod at the Oliviers, at which point I will resume kicking myself.

…and the rest

There's something inherently wrong about experiencing one of The Globe plays from the stuffy comfort of a cinema in Stevenage, but their decision to show their 2010 production of Henry VIII at selected cinemas across the country was a godsend to those of us who missed seeing it in the great outdoors. Kate Duchêne's imperious, embittered Katherine of Aragon was a heart-breaking standout performance, but the whole ensemble shone.

She fared less well with a miniscule part in her regular collaborator Katie Mitchell's A Woman Killed With Kindness at the National, but that might not have been such a bad thing. To give Mitchell her due, it was such a strong production that it was easy to overlook the fact that the play itself is terrible, but although an excellent cast carried the action along admirably, they deserved a better vehicle for their talents.

The Last of the Duchess at The Hampstead Theatre featured Anna Chancellor in all her wisecracking glory as the grieving, alcoholic journalist Caroline Blackwood, excellently matched by Sheila Hancock's acerbic, obsessive Maitre Suzanne Blum, lawyer and self-appointed protector of Wallis Simpson. It's a pity that this play will soon be followed by Madonna's allegedly dire W.E as the latter, no matter how good, will inevitably suffer in comparison.

The best collaboration in 2011 was Fuel Theatre's excellent series of monologues delivered as podcasts with an accompanying blog on the Guardian website. For those of you who didn't catch it the first time around, they are still available here. Everyday Moments was by turns hilarious, heartbreaking and thought-provoking, and always fresh and innovative – exactly what good theatre ought to be.

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