It’s the ‘best of the year’ season …

Between Christmas and New Year’s there’s always a sense of the big roundup. For years, network television grabs the ‘biggest’ ‘worst’ ‘best’ etc. of everything and rehashes a package to remind us of the biggest, worst and best of the past year. These programs always remind me of the leftover Christmas ham that is also reappearing endlessly at this time.

I sent off a tweet this morning hashtagged #theatre which asked my stream which production they would rate as the best of 2008. Of course it’s a personal thing, but I’m more interested in why.

Want to join in? If you’re on Twitter add me @Dramagirl (you knew that) and put your choice and reasoning out there. Hashtag it #theatre (but you have to follow #hashtags first – you knew that) for it to work. We can then check out who saw what, where, and why. Fun.

If you couldn’t give a toss for Twitter, then add your comments here.

My bid: “The Chalk Garden” at the Donmar Warehouse in London. I saw this on a fine, summery afternoon in July. It was a whiff of lovely British writing from the mid-1950s. That year, Ms Bagnold’s fine play was rather swamped by “Look Back in Anger” (1956 was quite a year for theatre). Experiencing a beautifully paced production of a domestic psychological thriller, and with a superb ensemble cast made this year in theatre for me. Finely-wrought realism still works.

PS: I nearly didn’t see what was by then, a sold-out season. Raced through Covent Garden trying to find the Donmar, which is buried deep – one of the best kept secrets around in more ways than one. More directional signs please.