By Christine Swan
I love the theatre. Apart from my hobby of Kung Fu, visiting theatres comes a very close second. In 2025, I managed to squeeze in twenty nine theatre visits. I have already reviewed the first six months of 2025, so here is the final installment.
The weather in July was fine and by the greatest fortune, it was a glorious evening when I attended the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre to watch Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses. The multi-level stage set became classrooms, a secluded beach, a home, and, in one shocking scene, a court room and gallows. This was a slick and impressive retelling of a dystopian Romeo and Juliet, where love reigns. As dusk fell, the stage lighting became more dominant and added to the atmosphere. I still am amazed that my last three visits have all been in the most perfect weather conditions.
The set of Noughts and Crosses at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
My second July foray was to the Park Theatre to watch That Bastard Puccini by James Inverne. Dubbed the Battle of the Bohemes, I was completely unaware of the story that composers had both written the same opera – Puccini and Ruggero Leoncavallo. This was a performance high on comedic value, but also peppered with beautiful music and singing. An excellent evening’s entertainment.
That Bastard Puccini! at the Park Theatre
Before I travelled to France for my annual summer jaunt to the sunny south, I went back to Wilton’s Music Hall for a performance of Shakespeare’s Scottish Play. I had studied Macbeth at school, as so many young people do, but unlike some, I felt a great affinity for Shakespeare’s work. I visualised the witches, Lady Macbeth, and Duncan, the castle, the cauldron, and the blood. This production by the Duke’s Theatre Company did not disappoint. Seat prices at Wilton’s are very reasonable so this was a great night out. I walked out into the warm evening light, looking forward to my holiday. Time well spent.
At Wilton’s Music Hall for Macbeth
Iconic Wilton’s
My next trip was in September to see two plays on similar themes: The Gathered Leaves at the Park Theatre, and Reunion at the Kiln Theatre. The first presented an uncomfortable, stuffy, upper-class family gathering for the patriarch William’s birthday. The story centres on two brothers – Giles, unhappily married, and his autistic brother Samuel, thoughtfully portrayed by Richard Sterling. A microscopic analysis of fractured family relationships and the deep love between brothers.
The Gathered Leaves at the Park Theatre
Reunion was more lighthearted on the surface, but, scratch the surface and complexities are revealed. A family descend on a matriarch’s remote Irish home. The kitchen sink drama unfolds, with a sprinkling of farce, and a lashing of comedy. It was hard to follow the new and old relationships breaking and making but it was an enjoyable evening.
At the Kiln Theatre for Reunion
October saw another theatre trip at the end of a very busy week. The King’s Head Theatre was hosting the play Calum Finlay’s Fanny. This show tells the story of Fanny Mendelssohn, composer, sister of Felix. Of course, in nineteenth century Germany, it was not seemly for ladies to be composers, and so her brother took the glory. This was another excellent production at this theatre and we attended the first night performance. There were some glitches – curtains that wouldn’t stay open, and a very near disaster with Fanny conducting atop a baby grand piano, being rotated by fellow actors, slowly twisting one’s skirt around the leg of said piano. The twisting became so entangled that the poor actor had to forsake her skirt, Fanny gracefully leapt from the piano as it tilted precariously, and her fellow actor took the curtain call in her bloomers, which she had already displayed in a boxing routine earlier in the performance. Marvellous!
Fanny at the King’s Head Theatre
October is also the month of Halloween. The play Dracula was being performed at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith and I was excited to see it as I am a fan of Bram Stoker’s gothic classic. Unfortunately, my expectations were not fulfilled. I was unconvinced, and in some scenes, Dracula was absent but lines from the book were read aloud, rather than presenting a visual representation. Some of the vampires looked rather benign, and not at all threatening. At the end of the performance, a female vampire warned men in the audience to be good to women – or else!
Not much of a fright night – Dracula
My next trip was in November. I watched the excellent musical, Coven, at the Kiln Theatre, in the same weekend as the very shouty, and less memorable Unbelievers at the Royal Court. The first of this pairing tells the story of the Pendle witch trials from the perspective of the women. With an entirely female cast, the orchestra manage to form the ensemble which also playing their instruments and singing. I loved it. Many of the songs were anthemic and rousing, although my male companion was less enthralled.
The Unbelievers starred Nicola Walker, who I am a big fan of, but something didn’t quite work for me . The backwards and forwards nature of the story was difficult to follow, but, we never find out if the lead character’s son is dead or alive – and so we are left in limbo. I really wanted to enjoy this play. I found the waiting room at the back of the stage quite innovative, but as I recall the play now, just two months later, it doesn’t appear in sharp detail – whereas Coven does, even its songs.
My final trip of the year was my annual Christmas treat. This year I chose Ballet Shoes at the National Theatre, paired with a family trip to the Old Vic’s A Christmas Carol.
Ballet Shoes was a delight. Not a pantomime but an impressive, toe-tapping, visual, festive feast. It is a delightful story of a disparate family, headed by a scatty paleontologist, who is never around, who builds a family of foundlings, who are enterprising in keeping a roof over their heads. Immense fun for all of the family!
Waiting for Ballet Shoes to begin
A Christmas Carol is one of my favourite stories. We know the characters, we know the plot, but every year, there is something slightly different. The foam snow, the carols, a constructed Christmas dinner delivered by a benevolent Scrooge by being transported in parts from the upper circle, everything is designed to stimulate seasonal spirits. My only gripe was that the mulled wine heater was broken this year, but a G + T was a suitable substitute, so all was well in the end.
Thus concludes my review of 2025, and next week, my theatre trips begin again. I am very much looking forward seeing what 2026 brings, and also taking some time away from work, which has occupied too much of my time recently. I want to lose myself for a couple of hours in the magic of a good story, and to forget about everything else for a short while.
Awful Rigours and Wretched Pay 