Theatre

This year I learned the last great showman was one of those people I had loved deeply without ever fully realising it

This high-tech masterclass is also an extraordinary piece of unforgettable theatre

This take on Federico García Lorca’s classic left me dazed and speechless

The relentlessly prolific author of plays, poems, short stories and novels, Pirandello was always looking ahead

The withering contempt Christopher Eccleston's Scrooge has for the poor and homeless hits particularly hard this year

The American actor's solo show is eloquent - if sometimes self-indulgent

Backstairs Billy captures the charm of an eccentric keeper of royal secrets

The 7 Deaths of Maria Callas is framed around a catalogue of operatic demises

The latest reboot of Sunset Boulevard veers into self-indulgence

The Swedish actress’s unhappy Hollywood experience prompted a lifelong questioning of what being herself actually meant

An adaptation of a Neil Gaiman novel makes for a startling production

Few cultural figures can have combined political activism and theatre as successfully as Fo

Patient theatregoers will be richly rewarded with Bronagh Lagan's production of the Paul Gallico book

Richard Jones's revival displays perfectly what a preposterous activity our national obsession is

Putin’s regime has introduced ideologically driven cultural policies intended to shape a new, virtuous Russian citizen for the future

For a West End production, this show was simply not up to the mark

At a time when we have seen so much of the worst of it, this show appears to be tapping into something big

This year’s Festival d’Avignon – a celebration of song, music and dance – kicked off with a rebellion against Brexit

Her live show, Medico, offers laughter as a medicine for life's troubles and has taken the Edinburgh Fringe Festival by storm

Simon Williams has written a very clever and thoughtful play with an unusually sure grasp of the human condition

The return of La Cage Aux Folles, the show that proved too much for Thatcher-era Britain

Portuguese comedian André De Freitas is on a mission to put his country on the map, one joke at a time

The production is intelligent, well-acted, but oh, so boring

Adam Penford’s production of the classic musical speaks to our populist times

A new version of an Italian classic comes to the UK, in more ways than one

Unlike the joyless reworking of Oklahoma!, this gets the point of a big, old-fashioned musical

The writers have taken a film that I couldn't imagine could ever be improved upon and managed to improve upon it

Frank and Percy lets the two old stagers do their thing, which is what makes it work so well

Europe’s first celebrity is celebrated in a treasure trove of objects at Paris’ Petit Palais

Jack Thorne's telling of an early BBC struggle is unfocused, often boring and poorly realised

An Aspects of Love revival feels uncomfortable three decades on

The stage version of Brokeback Mountain is well-meaning, well-acted and well, pointless