10 Most Popular Reviews of 2020

What a difficult year for us theatre people, ey? I shan't go into the details of how hard its been for all of us, I think that's pretty clear! But we did manage to get to see SOME theatre, both in-person and online! Here at Pocket Size Theatre, we pulled together our 10 most popular reviews from this past year! Take a look and remember some of the productions that have happened this year, we've had a great time looking back! 

The Pirate Queen at the London Coliseum ★★★★★

"The score is stunning, Tucker’s vocals stole the show whilst she was supported by a fiercely strong cast... Julian Kelly directed the 11-part orchestra to an exceptional standard, deservingly taking centre stage throughout the performance. Every element of the production was of the highest quality, pulling out all the stops to create an outstanding piece of theatre."

The Best Shows we've seen in 2020!

2020.... well, that happened. 

Its been a rubbish year for our industry, but we mustn't dwell on the negatives! So, we thought we'd collect together our top shows that our wonderful reviews have seen this year! Even though these are our top reviewed shows, we just want to say a huge well done to all those who have been involved in creating content this year, as an industry we have pulled through and proven our place in society. Even if the government still don't value us, we must value one another and we wish everyone the utmost success in the new year! 

Without further ado, let's take a look at some of our top shows from 2020! 

A Christmas Carol at the Dominion Theatre

"The whole production is directed with great skill and ingenuity by Shaun Kerrison and backed by some excellent video and graphics by George Reeve projected on the large screen above the band and has the feel of a high production value West End show with great musicality and fresh and lively touches. This is no concert; this is a joyous celebration of musical theatre with a powerful and meaningful message that resonated as much today (perhaps more so) than when Charles Dickens wrote it in 1843. Bravo London Musical Theatre Orchestra. We hope you will return to the stage even stronger in 2021." 

REVIEW: Ghost Stories at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking

First a play and more recently a film, Ghost Stories has been frightening audiences for the best part of ten years and his currently out on its first UK tour.

Written by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, much of the show’s success has centred around audiences (and critics) keeping its contents under wraps and spoiler-free with little known about the show in publicity or on social media.

With a cast of just 4 actors, the show is a taut, tight 80 minutes long and is full of thrills and jumps but plenty of laughs too. It’s easy to see Dyson’s style all over this when you remember he is one of the talents behind dark comedy The League of Gentleman, and fans of that show and Inside No.9 would love this play.

Intertwining 3 different ghost stories presented by lecturer Professor Goodman, the show uses effective and clever effects without ever letting them detract from the story or be in place of good writing or performances. 

REVIEW: Ghost Stories at the Ambassadors

Ghost Stories takes care to manipulate you from the moment you step into the theatre. Ghostly sounds are piped into the bar so the pressure is being applied even here. Once in the auditorium it appears as though there is some sort of building work going on. None of the house lights are working, the space instead being illuminated by strings of caged bulbs, flickering ominously.

The evening begins with the rather sudden arrival of Professor Goodman (Simon Lipkin) who starts a lecture about his study of people who claim to have had super natural experiences. It’s all getting rather dull (“Stay with me,” he urges at one point). Then we are taken into the next level of the story as the first of the people he has interviewed about their experiences is brought to life on stage. So we have an episodic approach, with the Professor as our anchor. As he says, people like to look for patterns. And it seems there is one emerging here, with the professor telling us about a case, then the curtain lifting to reveal that story in front of us. And he tells us there will be three such stories. But we also know enough about writers Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman to suspect that there will be more to this pattern than there appears.

REVIEW: Ghost Stories at the Lyric Hammersmith

Nearly ten years since Ghost Stories first began rehearsals at the Lyric Hammersmith, Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s play has been performed seven cities in six different countries. It has since been made into a film and returns to London after five years to the place where it began. 

Simon Lipkin’s Professor Goodman, an expert in Parapsychology, pays tribute to the vintage horror stories and creepy pictures that spooked the world. He debunks each myth with explanations of why we tricked ourselves into terror, before interviewing three people about their unexplained supernatural experiences. 

Having seen the show at the Duke of York’s in 2010, I was aware of the additions to the new version of the play. Without giving away any spoilers, I found the new scene particularly insensitive. The show has drastic contrasts between humour then very dark moments which made the themes confusing- is it trying to be a light hearted spooky comedy? Or a sinister, deeper show? Dyson and Nyman try to justify most elements of the stories near the end of the play, but some areas aren’t explained, which was baffling and had me wondering if I had missed out on some key plot points.