The best theatre of the 21st century

Not looking great, is it? Until we all get jabbed, theatres may have to stay closed. And even the optimists say a reliable vaccine is unlikely to arrive before Christmas. As the darkness persists, here’s a round-up of my leading experiences over nearly two decades as a reviewer. There’s been a surge of output. More theatres have opened, especially on the London fringe, and several have created annexes for experimental work. Musicals have proliferated. The rise of the box-set has been excellent for the West End. Global hits such as Game of Thrones have created a host of British stars with enough clout to sell out a three-month run in London.

Shakespeare hasn’t fared so well. Increasingly the Bard has become a platform for directors to deliver fashionable pronouncements about racial and sexual equality. It’s rare nowadays to see a white English male playing a Shakespearean lead. Experimentalism, ethnic dogmatism and gender-blind casting have created chaotic, confusing productions loaded with conceptual abstractions: Elsinore transposed to a mental asylum or a police state; all-female versions of the Henrys set in a women’s prison; Richard II in a padded cell; the Dane dressed as Andy Pandy.