Producing theatres

Royal Exchange Theatre

Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre began the year with one of several interesting revivals: a very impressive and moving production of Peter Whelan's First World War drama The Accrington Pals.

Despite a few directorial excesses, To Kill A Mockingbird was a powerful piece of theatre which saw a welcome return to Manchester of the always-impressive young Shannon Tarbet as Scout with a wonderful performance from Nigel Cooke as lawyer Atticus Finch.

Another great actress returning to the Exchange this year was Cush Jumbo who gave a superb portrayal of Nora in an otherwise unremarkable production of Ibsen's A Doll's House.

There were a couple of low points with Cannibals and Too Clever By Half, The Birthday Party didn't solve the problems of performing in-the-round and a starry All My Sons had its moments but didn't quite hit the heights, but then a co-production of Sondheim and Wheeler's Sweeney Todd was another that escaped an ill-fitting directorial concept to give a stunning night at the theatre.

The Christmas production was a revival of Victoria Wood's That Day We Sang, originally created for the 2011 Manchester International Festival, which was entertaining but rather oddly constructed and uneven.

The biennial Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting featured strongly in 2013, beginning with studio productions of two winners of the last competition. Three Birds by Janice Okoh was the previous first prize winner, which had its moments but didn't come across as a major discovery, but far more impressive was the brilliantly entertaining and inventive judges' prize winner Brilliant Adventures by Alistair McDowall. Also from Bruntwood, this year's winner was announced as Anna Jordan for her play Yen.

Finally back in July the Exchange was mourning the death of its head of sound for 21 years, Steve Brown.

Octagon Theatre

The Octagon in Bolton opened 2013 with a pretty decent production of Of Mice And Men, but a new play Tull about Walter Tull, the first black outfield player to play in the English First Division and a British officer during the First World War, didn't live up to the promise of the fascinating source material.

Artistic director David Thacker was back on familiar ground with a very strong production of The Glass Menagerie, but the spring season ended with two productions, Can't Pay? Won't Pay! and Piaf, which failed to impress.

A pairing of An Inspector Calls and Long Day's Journey Into Night with the same cast was an interesting idea, but the former was quite misjudged and the latter had some good moments but didn't quite hit the mark.

The year ended with a long run of a new adaptation of Robin Hood, which was certainly a huge improvement on the group-authored Christmas productions of the last couple of years and had an impressive design that surrounded the audience.

Oldham Coliseum

The Coliseum has had quite an impressive year, starting with a production of David Copperfield that was one of the most enjoyable Dickens adaptations I've seen. Sugar Daddies was fairly forgettable and certainly not one of Ayckbourn's best, but then Blonde Bombshells of 1943 was a very entertaining trip back to the wartime dance band scene.

Ladies Day was a rather flimsy, unimaginative comedy from a writer whose popularity I've yet to understand. I also never really got the appeal of Hay Fever, the next in the programme, which has always come across to me as an over-long comedy sketch.

However artistic director Kevin Shaw came storming back after the summer break with a full actor-musician production of Chicago that was a major achievement for a theatre of this size, and which surprised a lot of people who saw it. Followed by the usual extremely popular Coliseum panto, this year of Jack and the Beanstalk, this was a great end to the theatrical year in Oldham.

Library Theatre Company

Still without a permanent performing home until it moves into the new Home Manchester with Cornerhouse in March 2015, Library Theatre Company began the year with another Re:Play Festival, showcasing some of the best fringe theatre in Manchester and Salford from the previous year, before its opening production of Mother Courage and her Children, which was a brave attempt but didn't really seem to understand what Brecht was getting at.

The third in its series of site-specific pieces, the only production this year not at The Lowry, brought together the Peterloo Massacre of 1819 and the rave culture of the 1980s in an old warehouse in Manchester's Northern Quarter for Manchester Sound: The Massacre, but, like many productions of this type, it concentrated more on the immediate experience than giving the piece enough depth to be affecting or memorable.

Educating Rita was a good revival of a very nicely-written popular comedy with a particularly impressive performance from Gillian Kearney in the title role. The Library's year ended with Charles Way's new adaptation of the popular English mythical character in Wanted! Robin Hood, which had its enjoyable moments but disappointed many people.

Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse

The big announcement from the Everyman and Playhouse is the announcement of the first season at the newly-rebuilt Everyman Theatre on Hope Street, which will open in March 2014.

I didn't personally get to any productions at the Playhouse in 2013, but hopefully I'll get to visit the new theatre and the old before long.

Theatre by the Lake

This picturesque lakeside theatre presented an adaptation of Hugh Walpole's Rogue Herries for its spring production.

The summer season featured a fun production of She Stoops to Conquer, a brave attempt at 'Tis Pity She's a Whore and a reasonable An Inspector Calls, but the highlight of the ones I saw was a powerful and thoughtful The Shape of Thing by Neil LaBute. The season also featured See How They Run and Vincent in Brixton.

The Christmas production, Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons set on nearby Coniston Water, I've yet to see as I write this.

Theatre by the Lake this year appointed Greek director Mary Papadima, who has directed several productions at the theatre over the last few years, as associate director.