News | As one year closes and a new one beckons, the curtain rises on the inaugural Must See Theatre Awards

2024 was an exciting year to launch mustseettheatre.com with some truly wonderful productions on stages in Edinburgh, London and beyond. The inaugural Must See Theatre Awards celebrate the highlights of the theatre-going year just gone, before we look forward to what is to come in the next 12 months. So without further ado, 2024’s winners are…

The Must See Theatre 2024 ‘London Hot Ticket’ Award goes to Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite, starring Matthew Broderick and Sarah-Jessica Parker, at the Savoy Theatre, where it ran at the start of the year for a limited season having already proved a huge success for the married Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Sex In The City stars. Review here.

The Must See Theatre 2024 ‘EdFringe Favourite’ Award goes to the Gilded Balloon’s production, Chemo Savvy, by Alan McHugh, and starring Grant Stott, Jordan Young and Gail Watson. What an emotional and loving tribute to the late, great Scottish actor, Andy Gray, a man with ‘funny bones’, adored by many. Review here.

The Must See Theatre 2024 ‘Best Edinburgh Theatre Experience’ Award goes to Michael Harrison’s brilliant production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and its star Donny Osmond who donned the golden tartan kilt of Pharaoh. An amazing evening of family theatre. Review here.

The Must See Theatre 2024 ‘Edinburgh Actor Of The Year’ Award goes to Leith’s Noof Ousellam who, in 2024, not only co-starred as corrupt businessman, Darryl Christie, in the new BBC series Rebus, adapted from the novels of Ian Rankin, but also returned to London’s West End as Macduff in the Donmar Warehouse production of Macbeth at the Harold Pinter Theatre. Review here.

The Must See Theatre 2024 ‘West End Must See Performance’ Award goes to Ben Whishaw for his portrayal of Didi (Vladimir) in James Macdonald’s West End revival of Samuel Beckett’s seminal play, Waiting for Godot, at Theatre Royal Haymarket. ‘Whishaw brings a fizzing nervous energy to Vladimir…’ Review here.

The Must See Theatre 2024 ‘Outstanding Contribution’ Award goes to Pam Aldred, Head of Marketing and Communications at the Edinburgh Playhouse, who, from humble beginnings in the venue’s box office 33 years ago, has risen through the ranks to run one of the biggest press and marketing operations in Scotland, along the way becoming one of the most popular and well respected faces in the city’s theatre scene, and beyond.

The Must See Theatre 2024 ‘Comic Genius’ Award goes to Luke Kempner and Bonnie Langford who teamed up to play M and Mme Thenardier for a strictly limited season in Sir Cameron Mackintosh’s record-breaking production of Les Miserables. With innate comedic timing and a glorious on stage chemistry, the pair stole the show. Review here.

The Must See Theatre 2024 ‘Best Solo Performance’ Award goes to Michael Daviot, writer and performer of A Noble Clown, an engaging one-act play remembering the life and times of legendary Scottish actor, Duncan Macrae. ‘Daviot is quite mesmeric.’ Review here.

The Must See Theatre 2024 ‘Best Arena Production’ Award goes to the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s magnificent warehouse production of Macbeth at the Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh. ‘A vast, immersive feast for the senses in which Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma are majestic as a fragile King and his supreme Lady…’ Review here.