Fiona Mountford

The 10 best plays of 2023

As theatre shakes off the long shadow of Covid, it is established regimes like Rupert Goold's that have fared best this year

David Tennant's Macbeth is magnificent, but this production is style over substance

Woody Harrelson is a force of nature - but Ulster American loses the plot

Article thumbnail: Undated handout photo issued by the National Theatre of Indhu Rubasingham at the National Theatre. Rubasingham has been appointed the next director of the National Theatre, it has been announced. Issue date: Wednesday December 13, 2023. PA Photo. The artistic director of London's Kiln Theatre will join the National Theatre as director designate from spring 2024, officially taking over from Rufus Norris in spring 2025 when his second term ends. See PA story ARTS NationalTheatre . Photo credit should read: Antonio Olmos/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

Indhu Rubasingham's biggest National Theatre challenge is the most obvious one

Cold War at the Almeida is exquisite - one of the best plays of the year

Armando Iannucci's Boris Johnson satire Pandemonium isn't funny enough

The Homecoming is unpleasant to watch as a woman

Annie Baker's Infinite Life is profound but too slow

My mum died a year ago. Can I face our annual Christmas theatre trip alone?

Hackney Empire's Aladdin is precisely what festive entertainment should be