Pocket Size Theatre: Top 10 Best shows of 2018!

Theatre in 2018 has been incredible! We're ending the year in a strange place, lots of long running shows closing but also lots of exciting shows coming up! Click here to see a list of shows we're looking forward too. We reflect, with our incredible team, on some of the best shows of the year. Take a look!

Six at the Arts Theatre

"Hamilton may be in trouble, theres new girls on the block and they've come to steal your fans. The music will be stuck in your head for days and this has to be one of the hottest shows of 2018. Get your tickets now, however I suspect we’ll see the return of this show to London very soon."

Six returns to the Arts Theatre from the 16th January after completing a sold out run at the Arts Theatre and a successful UK tour.

Read our ★★★★★ review here!

Julius Caesar at The Bridge Theatre

"An absolute must-see for those who perhaps don't know Shakespeare as well as they should as it brings his historical text stampeding into the modern day and for those who know it like the back of their hand: it's new, vibrant and will be unlike any other retelling you've seen before. Shakespearean perfection."

Julius Caesar played the Bridge Theatre form January through to April with a National Theatre Live broadcast in March.

Read our ★★★★★ review here!

REVIEW: Julius Caesar NT live broadcast

The new Bridge Theatre near Tower Bridge in London has launched to great acclaim much arising from Nicholas Hytner's reputation built so successfully at the National Theatre just a short distance away along the South Bank. For those who can't get tickets for the theatre, NT Live enables anyone in the country the chance to see these productions from the comfort of their local cinema. The latest offering, broadcast on Thursday 22nd March, was Hytner's production of Julius Caesar which has run at the Bridge since 20th January. The challenge with the broadcast was how to translate an immersive promenade performance to the big screen.

Julius Caesar was written by Shakespeare in 1599, set in 44BC and structured over five acts in streets of Rome and plains of Philippi with a mainly male characters. Hytner has worked with the amazing designer Bunny Christie to update the location to a modern republic with pistols and barbed wire and changed the gender of key role of Caius Cassius to rebalance gender mix of play. The central characters Caesar, Mark Antony and Marcus Brutus are well known historical figures and the basic plot is very familiar but the updating works and gives the production a fresh modern feel. This version runs for two hours fifteen minutes without an interval.

REVIEW: Julius Caesar at The Bridge Theatre

"Friends, Romans, countrymen... Lend me your ears."

It's not often a modern re-telling of Shakespeare will see people queuing out the door for their chance at grabbing a ticket, but it would seem the Bridge Theatre has nailed it with Julius Caesar. Perhaps its star-packed line up including Ben Whishaw (Skyfall), Michelle Fairley (Game of Thrones), David Morrisey (The Walking Dead) and stage/screen veteran David Calder which has drawn in the crowds? Credit to them though - what sensational performances from them all.

Unlike when you stand in the pit at The Globe, at this production at the Bridge Theatre, you are immersed in the sets and furthermore, where you start won't be where you finish up. This is not an interactive journey, but one where I can guarantee you won't stand still for long as security guards and cast members barge through the mob crowds and when Mark Antony is less than a foot from your face and screams "MOVE!" by God, you do!