38 - Kiss Me Like You Mean It Bench Theatre at The Spring

I don't think this is a brilliant play, but four spectacular performances and skilled direction from Callum West made it a brilliant production.

Dan Finch was hilarious as soon as he emerged on stage dancing around with an inflatable shark singing Tom Jones' 'Sex Bomb'. He played Tony, a slightly drunk young man emerging into the yard from a house party to get some air. Soon he was joined by the cool, slightly sarcastic Ruth (Rosie Carter) and they attempted a conversation which evolved from embarrassing small talk and chat up lines to warm affection and chemistry. The delivery of the dialogue was varied and funny, some of the awkward moments between the two of them could have been from Peep Show or The Inbetweeners. While it's always funny to watch an awkward young man failing to find the words to chat up a pretty girl, this had the added bonus of a well developed and realistically flawed female character which made the performance much warmer. It was easy to identify with Ruth's obvious frustration as she talked about her life, a life she clearly felt had veered of course somehow, and didn't know quite what to do to put it right again. Carter's Ruth was fiery and stroppy which contrasted with Finch's laid-back slightly philosophical Tony brilliantly.

The staging of this first half could easily have been quite static, but I thought it was blocked out very well with just enough movement to keep the scene interesting without being distracting.

Much of the conversation at the interval was about the plausibility of the young couple's situation. It's true, I don't think the sudden attraction between the two of them is particularly realistic. I've been to a few similar parties and I can't see two twenty-somethings who have never met abandoning their respective partners inside a party to sit in the garden, form an attraction and make declarations of love to each other within the space of an evening. Unless they were on drugs or really drunk or something. And even then they'd probably just have sex.

However I also believe that a play can show something true without being particularly realistic. And accelerating a relationship to develop in just an evening between two very believable characters is just one of those things you can do in a play but not in a film. Particularly when it creates such lovely symmetry with the narrative of the other two characters.

However that's not to say I thought this was a great script, at times it tended towards the mawkish and contrived. But the great comic timing of all the actors involved meant it was touching and enjoyable.

The relationship between the young couple, the staging and the costumes seemed very fresh and modern, I don't know if that was just because I found them so recognisable. However this meant the slightly retro references in the first half jarred and felt a bit anachronistic, I think these could have been easily swapped out to bring the play bang up to date and give more contrast between the new couple and the old. I didn't see any reason to keep the play set in some recent decade rather than the present.

What really got to me about the play was the spellbinding performances by Sally Hartley and Peter Woodward as the older couple, Edie and Don. Having spent 50 years together, Edie and Don are reaching the end. Don has a brain tumour and they plan to inject themselves with insulin as the sun rises, ending life on their own terms. So they spend the night drinking all the old alcohol hanging around their flat and having rampant sex in full view of their window, which is where we, and Tony and Ruth, first glimpse them. The energy and sparkle both actors put into everything made their impending death all the more heartbreaking. From the hilarious scantily clad wiggling in the window to Edie's rush out to plant their house plants in the yard and Don's quest to source a curry flavoured condom, with the help of a perplexed Tony they took us with them all the way and portrayed a brilliantly believable partnership. But while Edie and Don still had much to give, they clearly wanted to go now, while they still shone brightly after a happy life, not eaten away cancer or lonely old age and there was no arguing with this decision.

We cried buckets. I had tears streaming down my face and could hear my mum sobbing away behind me. Edie and Don reminded me of my grandparents, even while not actually being anything like them really, and made me hope I find someone to love like that into old age and beyond.

37 - The Mother, Scoop

This was a great translation by Mark Ravenhill of Brecht's tale of a mother who gets involved in politics when her son starts protesting. It's a touching tale and was performed in classic Brechtian style by the clever Steam Industry Free Theatre company.

The production was let down slightly by the dodgy music, the rather average electric guitar playing was anachonistic and didn't fit with anything else. I suppose this could have been a clever alienation technique? Hmmm.

The company is losing its funding next year which is a travesty because free theatre at The Scoop is a London gem and gets a really eclectic audience including people who might never pay to see something like Brecht. But that is what happens when bastards vote in a government of bastard tory bastards including an idle rich bumbling tory bastard mayor of London who naturally would rather reserve the arts for people who can afford £50 tickets.

36 - Peer Gynt, Theatre Collection at the Lord Stanley in Camden

Theatre Collection use physical theatre and dance in a bare studio space to tell the story of Ibsen's Peer Gynt like a fairy tale. There was some skilful physical theatre, the highlight for me was when all the actors came together to create the Troll king, simple techniques like using another actor's hands as his own meant the central figure was able to represent an otherworldly creature in a really effective way.

I also loved the dark comedy when Peer came across what appeared to be an asylum in Egypt. Sebastian Canciglia as the raving Egyptian introducing the madmen was brilliantly comic and disturbing.

There was scarcely much of Ibsen's epic play remaining which meant that from the start the piece was very fast-paced. This meant that as I didn't know the play very well I felt a little confused about what the bigger questions of the text were and what it was saying. After seeing Ibsen's Emporer and Galilean at The National where you come away thinking about the human condition, religion and our place in the world, I found it a little difficult to adjust to taking Peer Gynt more as a simple fairy tale. However as the play is very narrative and there was a narrator figure guiding us through the plot was not difficult to follow.

The fast pace made the play into a series of strange visions, rather like being in someone else's dream which was complemented by the live music and interesting instruments the cast used. This was really clever and helped create the traditional story telling atmosphere.

There was also some lovely singing particularly the refrain from Nicola Fox playing Peer's love Solveig who waits for him and grows old as he travels the world.

Oliver Hollis-Leick played Peer Gynt very convincingly both as a young and impulsive dreamer and later as a more reflective older man. His charismatic and naive charm made him the ideal central fairytale hero, which was in ironic contrast to his flawed actions.

Don't go to see this to see Ibsen, go to see a slice of traditional skilful storytelling and you will enjoy it immensely.

35 - The Tempest, Haymarket

This was an enjoyable production but unfortunately my enjoyment was marred by 3 things. Firstly the seat in the balcony were ridiculously tiny and uncomfortable. Secondly Ariel and his the other spirits were camp rather than androgenous which I found a bit annoying. Thirdly I just didn't think the production was as effective as the Old Vic's last year which had a simplicity that this production lacked.

Oh I also thought Caliban was not savage or alien enough. When Caliban is too human, and played by the only black man on stage, the play just feels vaguely racist.