In the first of The Guardian's Stage critics’ picks of the year, Michael Billington lists Ballyturk as No. 2 in his top 10 theatre shows of 2014
Galway International Festival and Landmark Productions were named alongside Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre of Great Britain, Peter Brook, Royal Court, National Theatre of Scotland, Edinburgh International Festival, the Old Vic, the Almeida, Young Vic, Chichester Festival, and the Donmar Warehouse productions as the leading shows of 2014.
The Guardian’s annual hotly anticipated Top 10 Theatre Productions of 2014 was published yesterday and features Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival’s production of Enda Walsh’s Ballyturk starring Cillian Murphy, Mikel Murfi and Stephen Rea. Directed by Walsh Ballyturk premiered at the Festival in July prior to a sell-out tour to Dublin, Cork and the National Theatre of Great Britain in London is listed as Number 2 in the Top 10 of 2014 as selected by The Guardian’s Chief Theatre Critic Michael Billington.
Billington, who saw Ballyturk in Galway, and in London where the show ran at the National Theatre for five weeks, praised the production writing, ‘I am still haunted by Enda Walsh’s text, the viscerally inventive performances of Cillian Murphy and Mikel Murfi and the sombre beauty of a speech in which Stephen Rea reminded us that ”everything is here and we are here to lay down legacy.”
Topping the list was the Almeida’s production of Mike Bartlett’s King Charles 111 directed by Rupert Gould currently playing in London’s West End and starring Tim Pigott-Smith.
The Top Ten featured the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of William Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona directed by Simon Goodwin; Yael Farber’s revival of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible at the Old Vic; Chris Rapley and Duncan McMillan’s lecture on climate change 2071 for the Royal Court; Peter Brook’s The Valley of Astonishment at the Young Vic and the Donmar Warehouse production of Fathers and Sons, adapted by Brian Friel from the Turgenev novel, directed by Lyndsey Turner.
Billington goes on to praise Imelda Staunton’s performance in Gypsy at the Chichester Festival directed by Jonathan Kent; Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy’s in David Hare’s Skylight directed by Stephen Daldry at Wyndham Theatre; and Rona Munro’s epic trilogy of the 15th-century Kings of Scotland in The James Play a National Theatre of Scotland, National Theatre of Great Britain and Edinburgh International Festival production directed by Laurie Sansom and starring Sofie Gråbøl.
See Michael Billington's Top 10 Theatre Shows of 2014 full list here
