I was trepidatious at the start of another new year, but in the end I managed to see 78 different shows (repeat visits taking this up to 109 theatre trips) – as well as 60 cinema trips to see 55 different films, and (lucky for some) 13 gigs.
Theatre
2:22 – A Ghost Story, Criterion Theatre
1797: The Mariner’s Revenge, Old Royal Naval College
A Christmas Carol, Old Vic
A Night At The Kabuki, Sadler’s Wells
A Number, Old Vic
An Intervention, Greenwich Theatre
A Sherlock Carol, Marylebone Theatre
AVA: The Secret Conversations, Riverside Studios
Bonnie & Clyde, Arts Theatre (x2)
Britannicus, Lyric Hammersmith
Cabaret, Kit Kat Club (Playhouse Theatre) (x5)
Chasing Hares, Young Vic
Closer, Lyric Hammersmith
Cock, Ambassadors Theatre (x11)
Dance to the Bone, Sherman Theatre (Studio)
Dirty Dancing, Dominion Theatre
Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol, Southbank Centre (Queen Elizabeth Hall)
Eureka Day, Old Vic
Hamlet, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Henry V, Donmar Warehouse
Henry VI: Rebellion, Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Henry VI: Wars of the Roses, Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Henry VIII, Globe Theatre
Horrible Histories – Terrible Tudors, Garrick Theatre
I, Joan, Globe Theatre
Jitney, Old Vic
Julius Caesar, Globe Theatre
King Lear, Globe Theatre
Life of Pi, Wyndham’s Theatre
Little Wimmin, Queen Elizabeth Hall (Southbank Centre)
Mandela, Young Vic
Mary, Hampstead Theatre
Midsummer Mechanicals, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Mohand & Peter, Southwark Playhouse (The Little)
Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Piccadilly Theatre
Much Ado About Nothing, National Theatre (Lyttelton)
Murder on the Orient Express, Chichester Festival Theatre
Oklahoma!, Young Vic
Operation Mincemeat, Southwark Playhouse (The Large) (x2)
Operation Mincemeat, Riverside Studios (x5)
Patriots, Almeida (x2)
Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby, Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre
Prima Facie, Harold Pinter Theatre
Richard III, Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Saturday Night Fever, Peacock Theatre
Saving Grace, Riverside Studios
Scandaltown, Lyric Hammersmith
Shake The City, Greenwich Theatre
Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear, Greenwich Theatre
Sixty-Seven, Lion & Unicorn Theatre
South Pacific, Sadler’s Wells
Tammy Faye, Almeida (x2)
That Is Not Who I Am, Royal Court
The 47th, Old Vic
The Ballad of Maria Marten, Wilton’s Music Hall
The Canterville Ghost, Southwark Playhouse
The Collaboration, Young Vic
The Crucible, National Theatre (Olivier)
The Drifters Girl, Garrick Theatre
The End of the Night, Park Theatre (Park200)
The Father and the Assassin, National Theatre (Olivier)
The Fir Tree, Globe Theatre
The Forest, Hampstead Theatre
The Hamlet Voyage, Bridewell Theatre
The Human Voice, Harold Pinter Theatre
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Gillian Lynne Theatre
The Merchant of Venice, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
The Mousetrap, St Martin’s Theatre
The P Word, Bush Theatre
The Shark is Broken, Ambassadors Theatre
The Tempest, Globe Theatre
The Unfriend, Minerva Theatre
Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story, Jermyn Street Theatre
Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial, Wyndham’s Theatre
Walking With Ghosts, Apollo Theatre
We Were Promised Honey!, Soho Theatre
White Christmas, Liverpool Empire
Withered Optimism, Soho Theatre
Wuthering Heights, National Theatre (Lyttelton) (x2)
Wuthering Heights, Hall for Cornwall
Wuthering Heights, Theatre Royal Nottingham
Wuthering Heights, The Lowry (Lyric) (x2)
Wuthering Heights, Theatre Royal Brighton
Wuthering Heights, King’s Theatre (x2)
Online
HistFest: Elizabethan England and the Islamic World, British Library online
Best Seat in Your House: Best of Enemies
British Library Online: Ireland and the Tudor State
British Library Online: The True Story of an American Witch-Hunt
British Library Online: Outrageous! The Story of Section 28
British Library Online: Elizabeth and Mary: Curators’ Talk
HistFest 2022: Persia: Great Kings and Palaces of Flowers, British Library Online
HistFest 2022: Army Girls and the Women Who Went to War, British Library Online
HistFest 2022: The House of Dudley, British Library Online
HistFest 2022: Horizons: A Global History of Science, British Library Online
HistFest 2022: In Search of Mary Seacole, British Library Online
HistFest 2022: The City of Tears: The St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, British Library Online
HistFest 2022: Blood and Bronze: The Kingdom of Benin, British Library Online
HistFest 2022: Hell: The Devil in the Detail, British Library Online
What Is History, Now? discussion, Festival of Debate
Literature Matters: Marina Hyde and Armando Ianucci, British Library Online
Red Ellen, Northern Stage online
HistFest: Emperors: A History with Dominic Lieven
HistFest: Gloriana: Elizabeth I and the Art of Queenship
HistFest: Francis Galton, Eugenics, and Why We Need New Science Stories
Queen + Adam Lambert: Rhapsody Over London
HistFest: Partition: In the Language of Remembering
HistFest: Tolkein and The Lord of the Rings: The Discussion
HistFest: Hallowe’en Fright Night
An Evening with Miss Marple, British Library Online
HistFest: Heaven On Earth: The Lives and Legacies of the World’s Greatest Cathedrals
Cinema & Gigs
The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Vue West End
The Beatles: Get Back – The Rooftop Concert, Odeon Swiss Cottage
Uncharted, Odeon Tottenham Court Road
Death on the Nile, Vue Piccadilly
Belfast, Odeon Covent Garden
Cyrano, Odeon Swiss Cottage
The Godfather, Odeon Greenwich
The Batman, Odeon Greenwich
Stereophonics: Oochya!, Brighton Centre
Stereophonics: Oochya!, O2 Arena
The Outfit, Odeon Covent Garden
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Odeon Tottenham Court Road
Travis: The Invisible Band, Bath Forum
The Script: Tales from The Script, Brighton Centre
Miles Kane: Change the Show, Roundhouse
Live and Let Die, Odeon Greenwich
Queen + Adam Lambert: The Rhapsody Tour, O2 Arena
Top Gun: Maverick, Vue Eltham
Alanis Morissette: 25 Years of Jagged Little Pill, O2 Arena
Elvis, Empire Haymarket
A View to a Kill, Odeon Greenwich
Elvis, Odeon Greenwich
Thor: Love & Thunder, Odeon Greenwich
Everything Everywhere All at Once, Odeon Greenwich
The Living Daylights, Odeon Greenwich
Licence to Kill, Odeon Greenwich
GoldenEye, Odeon Greenwich
Coldplay: Music of the Spheres, Wembley Stadium
Nope, Odeon Greenwich
Tomorrow Never Dies, Odeon Greenwich
The World Is Not Enough, Odeon Greenwich
Die Another Day, Odeon Greenwich
Venus, Cupid, Folly & Time: 30 Years of The Divine Comedy – Fin de Siècle / Regeneration, Barbican Hall
Casino Royale, Odeon Greenwich (x2)
See How They Run, Odeon Greenwich
Quantum of Solace, Odeon Greenwich
Moonage Daydream, BFI IMAX
Don’t Worry Darling, Odeon Greenwich
The Lost King, Odeon Greenwich
See How They Run, Odeon Luxe Leicester Square
Moonage Daydream, Odeon Greenwich
Ticket To Paradise, Odeon Greenwich
Mrs Harris Goes To Paris, Odeon Greenwich
Skyfall, BFI IMAX
Spectre, BFI IMAX
No Time To Die (3D), BFI IMAX
Maxïmo Park: Sïngular, Roundhouse
Emily, Odeon Greenwich
Amsterdam, Odeon Greenwich
Bros, Odeon Greenwich
The Banshees of Inisherin, Odeon Greenwich
The Woman King, Odeon Greenwich
Coldplay: Music of the Spheres live broadcast, Odeon Greenwich
Black Adam, Odeon Luxe Haymarket
Paolo Nutini: Last Night in the Bittersweet, Cardiff International Arena
All Together Tour: Kaiser Chiefs, The Fratellis & The Sherlocks, O2 Arena
Call Jane, Odeon Greenwich
Living, Odeon Luxe Leicester Square
Decision to Leave, Odeon Luxe Haymarket
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Odeon Greenwich
Confess, Fletch, Odeon Greenwich
The Menu, Odeon Greenwich (x2)
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Odeon Luxe West End
She Said, Odeon Covent Garden
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, Odeon Greenwich
Bones and All, Odeon Greenwich
The Muppet Christmas Carol, Odeon Greenwich
Casablanca, Odeon Greenwich
The Infernal Machine, Odeon Greenwich
Aftersun, Odeon Covent Garden
She Said, Odeon Greenwich
Elf, Odeon Liverpool ONE
Paolo Nutini: Last Night in the Bittersweet, M&S Bank Arena
Violent Night, Odeon Greenwich
Anything else
David Suchet – Poirot And More, A Retrospective, Harold Pinter Theatre
Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens, British Library (x2)
The Queens’ Lovers, British Library
Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein – Live, Queen Elizabeth Hall (Southbank Centre)
Beethoven: Idealist. Innovator. Icon., British Library
The Owl and the Nightingale, Royal Court Theatre
TV Preview: Inside No. 9 + Q&A, BFI Southbank
LV County Championship: Surrey v. Hampshire (day 1), The Oval
LV County Championship: Surrey v. Somerset (day 1), The Oval
LV County Championship: Surrey v. Somerset (day 3), The Oval
LV County Championship: Surrey v. Somerset (day 4), The Oval
BAFTA TV Sessions: It’s A Sin, BAFTA Piccadilly
Breaking The News, British Library
LV County Championship: Lancashire v. Warwickshire (day 3), Old Trafford
Classic Album Sundays presents Ziggy Stardust 50, British Library
Gold, British Library
Alan Partridge: Stratagem, O2 Arena
LV Test Series: England v. New Zealand (day 3), Lord’s
LV Test Series: England v. New Zealand (day 3), Headingley
Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth
LV Women’s Test: England v. South Africa (day 1), Cooper Associates County Ground
Vitality Blast: Middlesex v. Somerset, Lord’s
Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein – Live, Hackney Empire
Vitality Blast Q/F: Surrey v. Yorkshire, The Oval
An Evening with Miriam Margolyes, Cambridge Theatre
The Future of History, IHR (Senate House)
LV County Championship: Surrey v. Essex (day 2), The Oval
LV County Championship: Surrey v. Warwickshire (day 1), The Oval
Prom 20: The Rite of Spring, Royal Albert Hall
TV Preview: The Sandman, BFI Southbank
Royal London Cup: Surrey v. Warwickshire, The Oval
Prom 33: The Planets, Royal Albert Hall
The Hundred: Oval Invincibles v. Northern Superchargers (double-header), The Oval
Royal London Cup: Surrey v. Somerset, The Oval
Royal London Cup: Surrey v. Gloucestershire, The Oval
Prom 43: Handel’s Solomon, Royal Albert Hall
TREASON – The Musical In Concert, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Prom 53: Earth Prom, Royal Albert Hall
Professor Brian Cox: Horizons – A 21st Century Space Odyssey, O2 Arena
LV Test Series: England men v. South Africa men (day 5), The Oval
London Podcast Festival: Springleaf, Kings Place
LV County Championship: Surrey v. Yorkshire (day 1), The Oval
An Evening with Rylan, Southbank Centre
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in Concert, Royal Albert Hall
Audra McDonald, London Palladium
The Sound of 007, Royal Albert Hall
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Accademia Gallery, Florence
Museo Galileo, Florence
Baptistery, Florence
Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence
Casa di Dante, Florence
Santa Reparata, Florence
Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence
Bargello National Museum, Florence
HistFest: The Extraordinary Life of Charles Ignatius Sancho, British Library
Ed Gamble: Electric, Eventim Apollo
An Evening with Richard E. Grant, London Palladium
HistFest: Charles I and the Civil Wars: The World Turned Upside Down, Museum of London Docklands
Spectre in Concert, Royal Albert Hall
Alexander the Great: The Making of a Myth, British Library
The Gunpowder Plot: The Immersive Experience, Tower Vaults
Wondrous Place, Museum of Liverpool
Challenge weeks
Film February
Mind The Band: Keeping Up With The Joneses
Mind The Bard: Tyrant Fever
Bondathon 60
Mind The Baubles
Mind the blog 