2025 Review: The Year In Theatre

Written by Daz Gale

We’re in the final hours of the year - in some ways, it feels like 2025 only started yesterday, while in others it feels like it has been the longest year ever. In terms of theatre, it has been another year of highs and lows It has become tradition for me to recap the last twelve months and the trends and key events that occurred, so grab a marmalade sandwich and cover yourself in blue paint as we look back over the last twelve months:

THE PLAY’S THE THING (AGAIN)

You may recall I started my 2024 review by saying how it seemed to be a much stronger year for plays than musicals. 2025 seemed to run with that, as the standard in plays we were getting this year was nothing short of extraordinary. From brand new writing, Inter Alia and Punch to new adaptations, plays dominated the year when it came to the best shows.

When it came to collating my top 40 shows of the year, many others put plays and musicals together, but I did a top 20 for each. I realised when going through every show I had seen this year, what made the cut for the top 20 was much higher in plays than musicals. That’s not to say there weren’t some incredible musicals staged this year, but the hit rate of plays seemed to land much harder.

It felt like a particularly exciting year for programming, with more shows taking a risk. At the top of that list (and my list of favourite shows this year) was Jack Holden’s KENREX, transferring from a run in Sheffield last year to enjoy not one but two acclaimed runs in London. Pushing the boundaries of what theatre can do, it also blurred the lines of multiple genres, refusing to be pigeonholed into one category and thriving with its refusal to do so.

It is the creativity that made plays so strong this year, with far fewer directors opting for safe, tried and tested adaptations and daring to be different. This, of course, proved divisive, but theatre is of course, subjective, and it is very rare that everyone agrees on something. Strong examples this year were Ivo Van Hove’s remarkable take on Arthur Miller’s classic All My Sons, creating one of my favourites of the year, and Simon Stone’s The Lady From The Sea at Bridge Theatre - while that wasn’t to my particular taste, I appreciated how starkly different it was.

Not everything worked, of course, with the utterly bizarre Elektra proving to be one of the biggest misfires of the year - though we’re still talking about it all these months later, which I dare say we wouldn’t be had it been a far safer production. One thing is for sure: you certainly couldn’t accuse plays of being boring this year. Even Jamie Lloyd shocked everyone by revealing he had discovered colour, with a glorious and hilarious production of Much Ado About Nothing, though I fear that may have been eclipsed by another show of his this year…

A NEW ARGENTINA

Where do you go after the West End and Broadway smash that was Sunset Boulevard? Hopes were high for Jamie Lloyd’s next musical production after his dabbling with several Shakespeare works in between. Opting to revisit his previous take on Evita in a revised production, it’s fair to say he had done it again.

You had to have been living under a rock to escape Evita summer - when this production was first announced, whispers started flying around that the balcony at the London Palladium would be utilised for ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’. What happened next went far beyond what anyone could have imagined. Thousands gathered on Argyll Street at every performance to get a glimpse of Eva Peron on the balcony as she serenaded all the passers-by. Crucially, this attracted more than simply theatregoers, with it becoming a destination in itself, making the news and becoming a bit of an event. I made sure to see it for myself during the run, and being part of that crowd was an incredibly special experience. Some theorised that particular number may prove underwhelming for those inside the Palladium, watching it on a screen. In fact, the opposite was true. The shot of Eva with the live, bursting crowd outside created a jaw-dropping moment, making the story feel all the more real and impactful.

Of course, not everybody was a fan of this production, as all of Jamie Lloyd’s productions provoke strong reactions, and that’s better than being boring. I, for one, am mostly a fan of his work, with Spider-Man and Juliet being the exception. One masterstroke in any Jamie Lloyd production is his casting, and Rachel Zegler delivered the musical performance of the year with her faultless Eva Peron, making her West End debut and kickstarting what I hope to be a long and thriving career on London stages. I’m not a betting man, but don’t be shocked when she wins the Olivier award next year - I honestly can’t see anyone else coming close to her. There was also fun in theorising the casting before it was announced - I had heard a rumour Jason Derulo was down to be cast as Che, though sadly the thought of him bursting onto the stage screaming “CHE-SON DERULO” was not to be, though less sadly, Diego Andres Rodriguez gave an incredible performance in the role.

THEATRE BREAKING THE INTERNET

Cast your minds back to the dark days of 2020, where time stood still, theatres closed, and the questionable figures in the Government dismissed the entire industry, suggesting everyone involved retrain in cyber. Now come back to the present day, where theatre proved time and time again it can go viral, break the Internet and burst into the mainstream.

The balcony moment at Evita wasn’t alone in making worldwide news, with a certain bear making the entire world aww, sob and book tickets in unison. That bear is, of course, the marmalade-loving Paddington. Hopes were high for the long-awaited musical adaptation of one of the nation's favourite characters, and it’s safe to say nobody was disappointed, with the show ending up as mine and many others' number one of the year. It was the reveal of the bear that sent everybody into a frenzy, however. How Paddington himself was going to be portrayed on stage was kept a closely guarded secret right until the curtain rose on the first preview. As the first audience witnessed the magic firsthand, images and a video of the bear were quickly released and had gone incredibly viral well before the curtain call of that first performance. Again, pushing the creativity, it provided one of the most iconic theatre images of the year in that little bear on stage, but also showed the magic of theatre, what can be achieved with it, and the ultimate success it can have. Gone are the days when theatre is reduced to a quick advert in between ads for walk-in baths and planning your own funeral during daytime TV- now theatre is taking its place in primetime where it belongs.

There seems to have been a huge rise in not just performances from musicals on TV, but theatre performers being welcomed onto shows along with titans of TV and films to discuss their projects, with Sunday Brunch being a particularly welcoming show for theatre stars. Marisha Wallace and Carrie Hope Fletcher have shown that theatre stars can become household names, but they weren’t alone, with Samantha Barks not only being a contestant on The Masked Singer, but also going on to win the entire series. As hilarious as it was to watch theatre Twitter (or whatever we’re calling it this week) explode as they recognised her voice each week, it was also incredibly gratifying to see performers like her given a much brighter spotlight.

WICKED CHANGED MUSICAL MOVIES FOR GOOD

Part of this change can surely be attributed to the global sensation that is Wicked. Though it has become one of the biggest stage musicals since its Broadway debut 20 years ago, it gained millions of new fans with the release of the first movie last year. That only grew with the release of the sequel Wicked: For Good. Merchandise everywhere you look, collaborations with every brand under the sun, its own TV special and even Cynthia Erivo being given an MBE - audiences worldwide were under its spell, and the power of Wicked was unstoppable.

But what does that mean in the long run? There are many in this world who turn their noses up at musicals, and say they don’t like any of them - I’m sure some of them will be converted after watching these movies, whether they wanted to or not. As they gently dip a toe into theatre, they may discover that actually the world of musical theatre is far more vibrant and colourful than they had ever imagined, and surely new fans will emerge from that. More so, the huge success of these movies will allow more musicals to be given a bigger platform, so don’t be surprised when you see more adaptations of stage musicals green-lit (forgive the pun) in the near future.

THE MOVIE MUSICAL IN MY MIND

To flip that around, we saw a huge influx in brand new musicals based on movies this year. Perhaps too many in quick succession, as any announcement of a new show was greeted by a response of “Not another one”. This meant that some dismissed these shows before even seeing them, but it also meant some were able to surprise when they proved better than expected. 13 Going On 30 was a strong example of that this year - though it was fairly safe in its execution, it ticked all the right boxes in how to get a musical adaptation of a movie right, and is sure to make a splash in the West End in the near future. 

Clueless opened in the West End, but struggled to find an audience competing with Mean Girls down the road and both are no longer running, though the latter will be seen again on tour next year. Freaky Friday had a well-received run in Manchester, while Wild Rose opened on Edinburgh. And then of course there was Paddington, whose stage adaptation was based on the first movie, but I’ve spoken enough about that ma-ma-ma-ma-marvellous bear already.

It wasn’t just musicals being adapted from movies, however, with plays making the leap from screen to stage too. High Noon has recently opened in the West End, but the most high-profile of them all was The Hunger Games, opening a brand new theatre in Canary Wharf and proving the odds weren’t in its favour in a production that failed to catch fire for me personally.

That’s not to say original shows aren’t out there, as new musicals kept popping up throughout the year, though without a familiar IP, many struggled to find an audience. It is clear to see why producers and theatres are more in favour of a recognisable brand, be it a movie, character or jukebox musical, but the ones that break out are proof enough that there is an appetite for diverse and original storytelling in theatre - it just may take a bit of hunting beyond the major West End houses to find one.

IF YOU CARE TO FIND ME, LOOK BEYOND THE WEST END

While the West End dominates theatre in the UK, regional theatres up and down the country have continued their impressive programming, making it worth the pilgrimage as you grapple with the less-than-reliable trains in the country. One pilgrimage was, of course, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, making its world premiere in Chichester and soon to be seen in London.

Manchester has seemingly become the hub for new shows. As well as the previously mentioned Freaky Friday and 13 Going On 30, Come Fall In Love was one of the high-profile shows making its debut there this year. Curve in Leicester has proven one of the more reliable theatres in the country, with many “Made at Curve” productions going on to tour the country, while Plymouth has become another unlikely place for new musicals to debut, with The Devil Wears Prada last year and a new revival of Fame next year.

Theatre lovers are not restricted to London, and not everyone can get to London to experience the many shows available, which is why the massive influx of tours and regional productions is so very welcome. It shows no signs of slowing down, with Something Rotten getting its fully staged UK debut in Manchester next year, and The Greatest Showman receiving its highly anticipated world premiere in Bristol in a run that is now completely sold out.

MAKE THEATRE ACCESSIBLE AGAIN

One of the more worrying trends in theatre in recent years is in how inaccessible it is becoming - and by that, there are two very different meanings.

The first is actual accessibility for those with access needs. This year, I witnessed a brand new theatre turning wheelchair users away as it had nowhere for them to go. That begs the question: how do you build a brand new theatre without access as a top priority? While I hope they have rectified that now, there really is no excuse for that. Everybody deserves the right to see a show, no matter what their access needs are, and it is a shame there are still so many houses around the country that haven’t catered to access patrons appropriately. That said, there has been a welcome rise in relaxed and captioned performances, with Go Live Theatre partnering with shows to provide these performances, and many productions willing to engage in dialogue and make any necessary changes. Though more still needs to be done, and I hope we continue to see theatre becoming more accessible next year.

The other meaning of accessibility is linked to affordability. Of course, theatres need to be able to make a profit so that everyone can be paid, and we have seen many theatres at risk due to a lack of government support and a cost-of-living crisis that has made it all the more expensive to stage any show. There has to be a balance, though, and some of the eye-watering ticket prices are stretching beyond a joke. Dynamic pricing has made concerts all the more expensive, and this very real threat hangs over theatre as well. It is important we don’t return to an elitist world where theatre is only for the rich and affluent, and the rest of us can only get our theatre fix by gathering outside a theatre and watching a star on a balcony. Theatre should be for everyone - the recent “Theatre for every child” campaign by the Society of London Theatre was a great step in ensuring theatre doesn’t become inaccessible.

When theatres reopened after the lockdowns, I swore I would never take it for granted again. I am aware I’m in a privileged position by getting to go to as many shows as I do to review, but I never take it for granted. Even when I am sitting through a particularly trying show, I would rather be there than not enjoy the thrill of sitting inside a theatre, surrounded by the thing I love most in the world with like-minded people. I love the real community events in the year, such as Musical Con and West End LIVE, simply to be able to share the moment together - something I feel when an audience experiences a particularly exhilarating show. I do worry we have lost that love a little bit, and I am seeing more and more quick to spread negativity on the industry and almost seem to enjoy things failing - my hope for 2026 is we can recapture the love for the arts and never take that for granted. I am aware I am starting to sound like that girl from Mean Girls, so before somebody shouts “SHE DOESN’T EVEN GO HERE” to me, I’m going to wrap this up.

I hope you’ve had a wonderful 2025 - if you haven’t, I hope that theatre has been able to act as a light in the darkness for you. It’s certainly pulled me out of some troubling moments in the last twelve months. No matter how your 2025 has been, I hope 2026 will be even better for you all.

I’ll be continuing to annoy you all with my reviews, terrible puns and bad jokes throughout 2026, with some exciting new additions to All That Dazzles to look out for in the next twelve months. In the meantime, you can follow me on X, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and BlueSky at @ATDazzles and listen to my weekly podcast All That Chat on Apple Podcasts and Spotify,

Happy New Year everybody. Until next year, see you in the theatre!