Tezza's Theatre Place

In 2016 I reviewed 180 shows either as a full reviewer or an assessor for the Offies. Most of my reviews are done for London Theatre 1  and Neil of LT1 has asked his reviewers for their top shows of the year. The full rundown can be found here , and includes all Neil's reviewers. The list below is my own top 10 - and believe me it was very difficult to whittle it down to only 10, which is why there are honourable mentions at the end. You may agree or disagree with my list but, like reviewing itself, its subjective and if everyone liked exactly the same shows all the time, theatre would be exceptionally boring.  So, away we go with my countdown of the top 10 shows of 2016: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts 1 and 2, Cambridge Theatre No doubt this is the No 1 show of the year for me.   J K Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, have captured the essence of the Harry potter books and brought them to life in wonderful style with these two fantastic play...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/155934/review-matthew-bournes-the-red-shoes-5-star/ THE RED SHOES. Ashley Shaw ‘Victoria Page’. Photo by Johan Persson Occasionally a show is so overwhelming in its awesomeness that I have real trouble translating my thoughts and feelings about it into words on a screen. Just such a show is Matthew Bourne’s new production  The Red Shoes  which is firmly ensconced for the Christmas period at Sadler’s Wells. Based on the cult movie of the same name by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and using music by acclaimed composer Bernard Herrman, arranged by Terry Davies,  The Red Shoes  tells the story of Victoria Page (Ashley Shaw) a ballet dancer who is discovered by Boris Lermontov (Sam Archer) and becomes a member of his touring ballet group. As well as Victoria, Lermontov also discovers composer Julian Craster (Dominic North). Lermontov is a hard taskmaster who believes the only thing his dancers should have an interest in...