Here is the top ten of my favourite stage performances in London. The order is arbitrary: they are all great!
1. Michael Maloney as “Hamlet” in Yukio Ninagawa’s production in the Barbican (2004)
Michael Maloney switches effortlessly from sarcastic wit to aggression and then to despair – and back! The definitive Hamlet for me.
2. Tamsin Grieg and Joseph Millson as Beatrice and Benedict in RSC’s “Much Ado About Nothing” (2006)
Shakespeare’s funniest couple played by the ideal cast. Outstanding comic timing in a Cuban setting.
3. Ralph Fiennes and Claire Price in Ibsen’s “Brand” (Haymarket 2003)
Claire Price held her own as a bereaved mother against Ralph Fiennes fanatic and fantastic Brand.
4. Rory Kinnear in anything he has played in, including Simon in ”Southwark Fair” (2006), Sir Fopling Flutter in “Man of Mode” and Pyotr in “Philistines” (both 2007) in the National Theatre
He is so good in everything he does, it is difficult to make a choice….
5. Carey Mulligan as Nina in “The Seagull” in the Royal Court (2007)
Only twenty-two but already the best Nina I have ever seen on stage. You literally see a mind going to pieces.
6. Rufus Sewell as Jan in Tom Stoppard’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll” in the Royal Court (2006)
I never imagined Rufus Sewell to be funny. But he is. And touching. A perfect performance through small gestures.
7. Janet McTeer in “Mary Stuart” in the Donmar Warehouse (2005)
Simply refreshing.
8. Paul Rhys and Naomi Frederick as Angelo and Isabella in “Measure for Measure” in the National Theatre (Complicite, 2004)
Finally an Isabella who isn’t an uptight fanatic but a wronged woman fighting for justice. And an Angelo who is as touching as he is repulsive.
9. Helen Mirren as Christine in O’Neill’s ”Mourning becomes Electra” in the National Theatre (2003) The Queen herself plays one of the greatest monster-mother figures on stage. 
10. Rafe Spall in Alaska in the Royal Court (2007) Rafe Spall proves he is more than just a pretty face and is electrifying as Frank.
