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2006: the Theatrical Year in London (West End Plays)Dateline: 27th December, 2006Every year, it seems that someone is willing to suggest that the straight play is dead and Shaftesbury Avenue, not to mention St Martins Lane, Aldwych and other homes of London playhouses, will never see anything but musicals in future. This is clearly rubbish and a wide assortment of plays, good and bad, British and foreign (primarily American) continued to draw healthy and enthusiastic audiences. The doomed attempt to create a first play that was worthy of a West End stage could only have come from a television programme, Channel Four's The Play's The Thing. Sadly, it wasn't. It did however cost poor Sonia Friedman a pretty penny in exchange for some great publicity. Perhaps the highlight of the year in the West End was the visit by Hollywood stars Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin to appear in Anthony Page's fiery new staging of Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee. Samuel Beckett's Centenary was celebrated in some style with an excellent Waiting for Godot directed by the only man who reasonably could, its first London proponent Sir Peter Hall; as well as a full-on performance from Sir Michael Gambon in the relatively unknown short play, Eh Joe; and an equally distinguished legend of the stage, Harold Pinter playing Krapp's Last Tape from a wheelchair at the Royal Court Upstairs. Perhaps the most surprising statistic from this last production was not the minuscule number seats that could be sold during the short run in a tiny theatre but the number of stars given by the notoriously curmudgeonly Nicholas de Jongh in the Evening Standard. For Nicholas to give five stars, this had to be his theatrical event of the year. Perhaps the best New Play in the West End was Sir Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll, still going strong but reviewed on the Other Major Theatres page since it opened at the Royal Court. If it had a competitor in the West End, this must be David Harrower's Blackbird, a terrifying two-hander about a paedophile starring Roger Allam and Jodhi May, which had first seen the light of day directed by Peter Stein in the Edinburgh International Festival in 2005. It is hard to know where to place the Old Vic since geographically it is some way from the West End, but in spirit, this section is probably its most appropriate home. As has been well-documented both here and elsewhere, Kevin Spacey has taken some time to get into his stride but all has been forgiven following Howard Davies' memorable new production of A Moon for the Misbegotten. This will give many prize lists not only strong candidates for their Best Actor and Best Actress but in Colm Meaney a fair candidate for the best supporting actor too. Many of the other plays to be seen in the West End featured favourite writers who come back again and again. Tennessee Williams has become a staple although this year's play, Summer and Smoke starring Rosamund Pike, is not his most famous, nor his best but that still makes it better than those of most of its competitors. Sam Shepard was seen this year with one of his more accessible plays, Fool For Love starring film actress and pop-star Juliette Lewis and Martin Henderson under the direction of Lindsay Posner. Two West End favourites joined forces when Felicity Kendal was cast to play Esme in the prolific Sir Peter Hall's recent revival of Amy's View. As always, Miss Kendal wowed her audience with an unforgettable and very charming performance in a role where she had to compete with memories of its originator, Dame Judi Dench, who had great fun playing Judith Bliss in Hay Fever this year. The comedies came thick and fast with Michael Frayn's Donkey's Years a palpable hit, while Patrick Barlow's The 39 Steps and a new version of See How They Run both had devoted followings. The year was not universally successful for producers with Jeffrey Bernard being terminally ill rather than just Unwell in a lacklustre reappearance, Honour singularly failing to match the original, despite the presence of Dame Diana Rigg and Embers, based on a novella in which nothing happens, a crushing bore unless you were completely captivated by the beauty of Jeremy Irons. Philip Fisher
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