Pros: An exhilarating performance that barely uses words, but takes your breath away and makes you feel so much.   Cons: You have to interpret and feel the show, rather than be given all the answers. In 2015, Battersea Arts Centre’s Grand Hall was engulfed by flames. With perseverance and hard work by the firefighters and theatre team, the front of the building was opened 26 hours later. With the support of over 6,000 people, they raised funds, re-housed shows and ...

Despite the play’s moving subject matter, 213 Things About Me fails to engage with the audience and can feel heavy.

Pros: The original and effective approach to two well known political situations. Both actors can be truly hysterical with their clownish acting. Cons: Although successful at exposing situations, there’s no real analysis and the shows don’t go into much detail on the problems. Bertrand (Bert) Lesca and Nasi Voutsas have a special chemistry. They have been working together only since 2015, yet to see them on stage you would think they had known each other since nursery school. A talented duo ...

Performers expertly blend dance and text together to tell a complex, fresh, yet universal story in this inventive piece of comedic dance-theatre.

Rob Warren picks his top shows of 2017

Clare Annamalai picks her top shows of 2017.

Pros: You’ll laugh so hard your sides will hurt. Cons: Your sides will hurt. Victoria Melody has trained as a police officer, a championship dog handler and a pigeon racer (who knew that was a thing?) for her performances. Her latest showing, Ugly Chief, came from a time when her Dad, Mike Melody, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and given less than five years to live. Those of you with a love for daytime TV (should you care to ...

The thinking person’s summer panto.

If you like fatalist humour, this is the play for you.

If you want The Matrix meets 1984 with a hint of 90s rave thrown in, Lights is the show for you, taking mime to a level you might never know existed.