Tom Smithard

John Proctor is the Villain @royalcourt - the rightful home of angry young playwrights & this has lots of good things to say about male power & abuse. But subtle it is not. ALLEGORY scrawled on chalkboard in 1st scene & felt like Spark Notes level of signposting throughout.

That makes Into the Woods the big winner with four, with Evita and All My Sons on three, Punch and Paddington on two.

Best theatre choreographer: Fabian Aloise, Evita

My 21 predictions for #OlivierAwards - not necessarily my fav in each category but the one I think'll win... Best revival: All My Sons Best musical revival: Into The Woods Best new play: Punch Best new musical: Paddington The Musical Best actress: Rosamund Pike, Inter Alia

Man and Boy @NationalTheatre - Rattigan's play makes appropriate fare for Valentine's Day as the incorrigible, impeccable Ben Daniels pushes all love & humanity from his life & pays the consequences. Lovely, stylish production, great direction, lighting & cast. V enjoyable night.

Dracula @NoelCoward sees Cynthia Erivo biting down with relish. She's impressive - we even get a song - though Kip Williams's production mimics his Dorian Gray without the same social satire & loses much of the wow factor. The camera operators & stage hands are superb throughout.

Arcadia @oldvictheatre. Great to see Stoppard's masterpiece but the production lacked pizzazz. Allowances for 1st preview but it felt performed more as an iterative equation than romantic poetry. Enjoyed Prasanna Puwanarajah but wanted less determinism from others & more Byronism

Indian Ink @Hamps_Theatre is a wonderful production of Stoppard at his most sentimental. Pre-partition political tension mixes with a social comedy of manners as the Bloomsbury Set breaks out of its box. Felicity Kendal is powerful but it's Ruby Ashbourne Serkis who captivates.

Pippin @GatehouseLondon is an acrobatic production of an underplayed Schwartz musical. Few tricks but plenty of magic in the performances, high on spectacle with great choreo throughout. Excellent debut from Mia Quimpo & strong work from Emily Friberg, Oliver Wood & Lewis Edgar.

Turkeys of the Year: Oedipus (Old Vic) My Master Builder (Wyndham's) Cow | Deer (Royal Court)

Best Set Designer: Tom Scutt (Into the Woods / Fiddler on the Roof) Highly Commended: Lizzie Clachan (The Lady From the Sea) David Zinn (Here We Are / Stereophonic) Rosanna Vize (The Maids) Joanna Scotcher (Titus Andronicus)

May I present The Smithards 2025. London Theatreland's LEAST Prestigious Annual Awards. This year 49 plays and 17 musicals qualified for consideration (for that's what I saw). And the winners are...