I just found a PDF of my initial application to become an Olivier Awards Panellist, back in 2018. I was rather surprised to be invited for an interview and then gobsmacked when I was chosen to be a panellist. The year of theatre 2018-19 remains one of the most spectacular years of my life. I mean, I went to the theatre a lot back then anyway, it was simply turned up several notches, and to things that I would have normally missed.

The Oliviers are fantastic and London theatre is fantastic, and I would not hesitate to do it all over again. The ceremony and aftershow were fabulous too.

A moment here to thank Catherine at SOLT during that time, who was a superstar in booking everybody’s tickets for every single show and organizing so much more beyond that. A superstar.

The initial application email

Here are the details of my application. I had to write a 150-word review of a play (from the last year, I think) and list any shows I’d seen too.

150-word review:

It’s a leap of faith to accept Rupert Murdoch as David fighting the Goliath of old-money Fleet Street, as we know how the story continues, but James Graham’s play paints both Murdoch and Lamb as plucky upstarts who overtake The Mirror’s circulation in a year of sensationalism. “I want to disrupt this street,” says Murdoch, a sentiment which has new meaning in our technological age. Perhaps inspired by The Sun, Graham doesn’t always let the facts derail a gripping tale: The Sun didn’t overtake The Mirror in a year: it took nine; But without the pressure of time, the achievement wouldn’t be quite as celebratory, and anyway, Bertie Carvel and Richard Coyle are fabulous as Murdoch and Lamb, and Graham provides plenty of surprise-and-delight moments such the banging-out of retirees. No moralizing here, just a good story with a great cast.

Against - Almeida
Albion - Almeida
Anatomy of a Suicide - Royal Court
Angels in America I+II - National Theatre
Art - Old Vic
Barber Shop Chronicles - National Theatre
Beginning - National Theatre
Bucket List - Battersea Arts Centre
Chummy - White Bear Theatre
Deposit - Hampstead Theatre
Dessert - Southwark Playhouse
Don Juan in Soho - Wyndham’s Theatre
Escaped Alone - Royal Court
Filthy Business - Hampstead Theatre
Five Guys Named Moe - Marble Arch Theatre
Follies - National Theatre
Guards at the Taj - Bush Theatre
Ink - Almeida
Labour of Love - Noel Coward Theatre
Life of Galileo - Young Vic
Lost Without Words - National Theatre
Mary Stuart - Almeida
Mosquitoes - National Theatre
Network - National Theatre
Nuclear War - Royal Court
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (twice!) - Duke of York’s Theatre
Peter Pan - National Theatre
Queen Anne - Theatre Royal Haymarket
Road - Royal Court
Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead - Old Vic
Saint George and The Dragon - National Theatre
Sex With Strangers - Hampstead Theatre
The Children - Royal Court
The Ferryman - Gielgud Theatre
The Kid Stays in the Picture - Royal Court
The Lie - Menier Chocolate Factory
The Lorax - Old Vic
The Majority - National Theatre
The March on Russia - Orange Tree
The Snowman - Old Vic
The Treatment - Almeida
The Twilight Zone - Almeida
The Wind in the Willows - Rose Theatre Kingston
The Woman in Black - Fortune Theatre
Twelfth Night - National Theatre
Ugly Lies the Bone - National Theatre
Victory Condition - Royal Court
What Shadows - Park Theatre
Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf? - Harold Pinter Theatre
Wings - Young Vic
Wish List - Royal Court
Yerma - Young Vic

9:51 PM

#PRIMAFACIE: thanks @williamcooper718 and @harryb_the_jug’s mama for treating me to a #JodieComer tour-de-force. Petered out by the end, could have cut the final ten minutes but splitting hairs here. Outstanding sound as always by Ben & Max Ringham - (@chk_chk remember that Wiretapper street gig?) #theatre #london

6:42 PM

#BEAUTYANDTHEBEAST: is the name of @eamonnodwyer‘s new show, you idiots, not Ruth and Eamonn here. And a very good show it was. Never really get enough time to spend with @grannyrogers but several walks, a show, a pub and a restaurant all featured today as well as the theatre - @rosetheatrekingston doing a great job. it finally feels like Christmas! #theatre #christmas

9:06 AM

#DEMENTORS: there’s all kinds of funky weirdness snuck away around #London and this week’s entry backstage at @thecoronettheatre are some puppets - guess who they are - and the dress of their puppeteers… thanks @inikibikini for the excursion #puppet #puppeteers #theatre #nottinghill

10:34 PM

#BACKTOTHEFUTURE: and Back to the Theatre to see this, definitely worth it for the effects but such a cramped theatre, hate seeing things in the West End. Anyway, banging performances from Olly Dobson who nails Marty McFly and Hugh Coles who plays a perfect George McFly. #theatre #london #greatscott #backtothefuturethemusical

11:58 AM

#SLOANESQUARE: finally coming into its own after decades of nothing. Perfectly shaded, fountain, a bar, nice and cool. Was planning to cycle somewhere else but I’m fairly planted here… #london #chelsea #theatre

10:58 PM

#THREESISTERS: finally, an outstanding production to banish the memory of that terrible crime committed by the #Almeida and #RebeccaFrecknall AND #CordeliaLynn upon us. This was hysterical, tragic, brilliant. Big up #InuaEllams for another cracker. #theatre #londontheatre #chekov

11:56 PM

#POETINDACORNER: unfortunately they managed to take a whole bunch of my favourite things and make a rather boring play, with moments of fun and good writing. Trying to turn the theatre into a grime gig was cheap and trite. One to avoid, I should think. #theatre #london #grime #dizzeerascal

6:56 PM

#THEVISIT: #TonyKushner adaptation which hits four hours, jeepers. Just overheard someone saying that this is only the second performance… balls. #theatre #londontheatre #FriedrichDürrenmatt #TheOldLadyComesToCall

1:39 AM

#THEWELKIN: excellent show 7/10, great performances from most of the cast and some great writing from #LucyKirkwood, although the energy petered out a bit in the final twenty minutes, and story felt pointless, but well worth it for the previous 2 hours 40. Note: injection of the Kate Bush song is as stupid as a soup sandwich and wrecked the suspension of disbelief. Top work from #MaxinePeake after the meh #Avalanche and brilliantly unsympathetic amoral lead played by #RiaZimitrowicz #theatre #london