Susannah Clapp

An intimate venue brings Baldwin and Buckley’s clash back to life; Danny Lee Wynter falls foul of a caped crusader (and too much exposition); and an island is threatened by outsiders

The audience is swept along with the action in Nicholas Hytner’s thrillingly immersive new Guys and Dolls; Nancy Carroll and Anne Reid surf memory and identity; and Shakespeare’s witches multitask

Director Rupert Goold and co have a field day with Lulu Raczka’s elusive new Jacobean folk horror; star-crossed Cardiff teenagers snare hearts and minds; and Sheridan Smith makes Willy Russell’s midlife monologue her own

Playground; @sohoplace; Donmar Warehouse, London
Richard Norton-Taylor and Nicolas Kent’s second Grenfell drama is a shocking dissection of negligence; Sophie Okonedo breathes fire as Medea; and Diana Nneka Atuona brings wartime Cardiff to life

Lyttelton; Old Vic; Olivier, London
Janet McTeer is mighty in Simon Stone’s electric remaking of myth; dance, not speech, powers Kate Prince’s suffragette musical; and Richard Hawley’s paean to Sheffield finds a home from home

Alex Kingston’s fine Prospero weathers an RSC concept storm; the 21st century erupts into a tale of 18th century gender subversion; and illusion captivates in a revival of Sam Mendes’s banking saga

Travis Alabanza and friends joyously return drag to its radical roots, while Aidan Turner and Jenna Coleman keep it brief in Sam Steiner’s social media allegory

Brute force speaks volumes in Frantic Assembly’s breathtaking Othello; Steven Moffat and co flirt with farce; and the story of Windrush boxer Vernon Vanriel hits home in song

Rebecca Frecknall’s headlong take on Tennessee Williams captivates. And Lillian Hellman’s 1941 call to arms resonates anew

Liz Kingsman’s zinging take on Fleabag goes beyond parody. Elsewhere, a gutsy, all-female Arabian Nights, and splurge guns at dawn