Many of 2012′s theatrical highlights were Shakespearean. The World Shakespeare Festival created some amazing dramatic moments, from Stephen Fry’s yellow stockings at The Globe to a Julius Caesar set in modern day Africa from the RSC. There were also triumphs for Sheridan Smith as Hedda Gabler, and some impressive displays of stamina in the 8-hour GATZ.

Theatre in London is more exciting than ever in 2013. There’s plenty more Shakespeare for you to look forward to, as well as some newer treats. Here are just some of the shows I’m looking forward to in the coming months:

1. Quartermaine’s Terms, Wyndham’s Theatre from 23 Jan
See Rowan Atkinson return to the London stage for the first time in 25 years this month. He’s starring as the well-meaning but hopeless teacher St John Quartermaine in Simon Gray’s tragicomedy at Wyndham’s Theatre. Quartermaine’s Terms is set in a 1960s English language school and is a humorous but moving account of several years in the lives of seven teachers.

2. Old Times, Harold Pinter Theatre from 12 Jan
If you enjoyed watching the BBC adaptation of Restless over the Christmas holidays, here’s a chance to catch the ever-brilliant Rufus Sewell in the flesh. He’s playing opposite Kristin Scott Thomas and Lia Williams in Harold Pinter’s erotically charged and compelling drama, Old Times. Directed by Ian Rickson, Old Times will be the first Harold Pinter play to be staged at the newly named Harold Pinter Theatre.

3. Macbeth, Trafalgar Studios from 9 Feb
Another month, another big name comes to the West End. From February, you can see James McAvoy, best known for his big-screen roles in films like Atonement and The Last King of Scotland playing Macbeth, directed by Jamie Lloyd at the Trafalgar Studios. This Macbeth is part of a longer season of political plays under the banner “Trafalgar Transformed”.

4. The Audience, Gielgud Theatre from 15 Feb
If you’re a fan of 2006 film The Queen, you’ll love The Audience opening at the Gielgud later this year. Like that film, The Audience is also written by Peter Morgan, and stars Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II. Directed by Stephen Daldry, The Audience imagines the weekly meetings between The Queen and her 12 Prime Ministers. Look out for Haydn Gwynne as Thatcher, Robert Hardy as Churchill and Rufus Wright as David Cameron.

5. Peter And Alice, Noel Coward Theatre from 9 Mar
In March, the Michael Grandage Company presents Peter And Alice, a new play exploring a meeting between the real-life inspirations for Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. Written by John Logan, Peter And Alice is the story of Alice Liddell Hargreaves and Peter Llewelyn Davies who meet at the opening of a Lewis Carroll exhibition in 1932. It stars Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw as the eponymous leads.

6. Relatively Speaking, Wyndham’s Theatre from 14 May
Following the success of A Chorus of Disapproval, another Alan Ayckbourn play opens in the West End in May. Relatively Speaking stars Felicity Kendal, Kara Tointon, Jonathan Coy and Max Bennett at Wyndham’s Theatre in what’s sure to be a brilliant comedy of British manners.

What London theatre shows are you looking forward to in 2013? Let us know in the comments below.

Musical news to start: firstly, the sad news that Loserville will be leaving the West End early. The Elliot Davis and James Bourne musical based around teenage geeks in the 1970s was full of bouncy energy, but alas, it’s closing in early January instead of March. Rumour suggests it’s headed abroad, so fans of the show might be able to see it elsewhere…

However, there’s happier news of a new musical coming to the West End: The Tailor-Made Man runs at The Arts Theatre for eight weeks from February. The story of the gay MGM star William Haines refusing to marry another movie star to cover up his sexuality has been turned into a musical by Showstopper co-creator Adam Meggido. It will star former Steps popstrel Faye Tozer and West End regular Dylan Turner.

Finally this week, some fun Sadler’s Wells news. Two more productions have been announced for the venue’s 15th birthday season. From 7 August, you can see the 2008 production of West Side Story; and from May, innovative dance company ZooNation are bringing their 2011 hit Some Like It Hip Hop back to London, to Sadler’s Wells’ West End stage at the Peacock Theatre.

London Theatre Cast News:

• Daniel Lapaine, Kevin R McNally and Indira Varma will star in Conor McPherson’s new adaptation of The Dance Of Death, which plays as part of the final Donmar Trafalgar season next month
• American actors Gavin Creel and Jared Gertner will be leading the cast in the hit US musical The Book Of Mormon at London’s Prince of Wales theatre from February next year. The pair are currently starring in the show’s Los Angeles production
• Comedian Rufus Hound is taking over from Owain Arthur as Francis Henshall in the West End production of One Man, Two Guvnors at the Theatre Royal Haymarket next year. He’s currently starring in the UK touring production, and will join the London cast from 4 February
• 60s singing star Mark Wynter is joining the cast of Dreamboats and Petticoats at Wyndham’s Theatre from next week, until 19 January

Have you enjoyed any great theatre in London recently? Let us know in the comments below.

In other news, Michael Attenborough has announced he’ll step down as Artistic Director of the Almeida Theatre in spring next year. Attenborough has been at the venue for 11 years, producing an eclectic programme from Shakespearean classics to new writing, including 32 premieres all tackling critical issues of our times. His tenure has also seen four Almeida Festivals and he established the Almeida Projects, a creative programme dedicated to involving young people with the theatre. I wonder who his replacement will be…

Dance news now, and anyone into Strictly Come Dancing will be as excited as I am to hear two of its stars are headed to the West End. Robin Windsor and Kristina Rihanoff will star in a new production of dance extravaganza Burn The Floor at the Shaftesbury Theatre from March next year. I can’t wait.

Finally, the National Theatre’s current sell-out show, This House is moving. After a critically acclaimed opening at the National Theatre’s Cottesloe space this week, I’ve been told that This House will move to the larger Olivier stage next year. James Graham’s acclaimed 1970s House of Commons-set play continues its run at the Cottesloe until 1 December; it will transfer to the Olivier in February. Casting is yet to be confirmed.

London Theatre Cast News

• Zubin Varla leads the cast of The Changeling which returns to the Young Vic later this year. He’ll be joined by Sinead Matthews and Harry Hadden-Paton.
• Kristin Scott Thomas, Rufus Sewell and Lia Williams will star in a new production of Harold Pinter’s Old Times next year. As well as a sparkling cast to look forward to, this will also be the first time a Pinter play is produced in the renamed Harold Pinter Theatre.
• Downton Abbey star Lily James (Lady Rose) joins Matthew Kelly in a new adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull at the Southwark Playhouse next month
• Finally, and most excitingly, Olivier Award winner Douglas Hodge (La Cage Aux Folles) is to play Willy Wonka in the much-anticipated (by me!) new musical Charlie And The Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. What a great choice!

Second, there’s a new musical on the horizon. A Chorus Line opens at the London Palladium next year: the first London revival of the show ever. Featuring the iconic songs One (Singular Sensations), What I Did For Love, I Can Do That and Hope I Get It, the Olivier Award-winning musical is the story of 17 dancers auditioning for a Broadway show. It’ll play a limited season from 2 February (press night 19 February) to 29 June.

London Cast News

• Janie Dee will lead the cast of NSFW at the Royal Court, Lucy Kirkwood’s debut play opening in late October
• Tricycle season regular Simon Chandler and Charlotte Lucas (last seen in Posh) are among the cast joining Adrian Lester in Red Velvet at the Tricycle theatre
• West End star Oliver Tompsett is swapping one rocking West End musical for another as he’s leaving Rock Of Ages to join We Will Rock You in October
• Conleth Hill, Will Keen, Felicity Montagu and Malcolm Sinclair will join the previously announced Rowan Atkinson in Quartermaine’s Terms at Wyndham’s Theatre
• Damian Humbley, Jenna Russell and Mark Umbers return to the Menier Chocolate Factory this winter to star in Maria Friedman’s forthcoming production of Merrily We Roll Along

London Shows Extending

• Chariots of Fire has extended its West End run at the Gielgud Theatre until 2 February 2013
• Top Hat has extended its booking period at the Aldwych Theatre until 28 September 2013
• Matilda is now booking at the Cambridge theatre until 22 December 2013

Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park has moved neighbourhood with far more ease than any of its characters: from an award-winning run at the Royal Court, it now both shines and stuns in the West End.

A sharp satire on racial prejudice in America, Clybourne Park has its audiences squirming and laughing in equal measures, as its acutely drawn residents tiptoe and blunder through a minefield of race, prejudice, language and property.

The first act is set in 1959. A white couple have sold their Chicago home to escape the tragedy of their war-veteran son’s suicide. The buyers happen to be a black family, and the local residents association are virulent in their opposition. Alongside the harrowing spectacle of a couple destroyed by tragedy come the ghastly revelations of the neighbours’ racism, in full hearing of the black servants. In one toe-curling moment, Rotarian Carl (Stephen Campbell Moore) asks why you don’t see any black skiers; evidence, he believes, of differences that should continue through to their choice of housing.

In the second, we see the same Chicago house fought over by a young white couple in 2009. This time, the black Americans control the residents’ committee, and they want the cultural significance of the neighbourhood preserved. Or, do they just want keep white families out?

What might sound a little contrived actually packs more of a punch by showing us the same actors in different roles 50 years later. Norris’ dialogue is razor sharp, from the dated “yes’ms” of the 1950s to the politically correct rhetoric which ultimately collapses in on itself in the later act. “Half of my friends are black!” cries Lindsey (Sarah Goldberg), as the proud Lena (Lorna Brown, utterly convincing) provokes more and more outrage. The play peels away at liberal hypocrisy; eventually the ugly feelings and resentments explode in a show-down of shamefully racist jokes.

Add to this great script a phenomenal cast (Sophie Thompson shines as both put-upon 50s housewife Bev and myopic lawyer Kathy) who really draw you in with their slick, naturalistic performances, and you have a fantastically provocative show.

Clybourne Park plays at Wyndham’s Theatre until 7 May. Book tickets here.

Bill Bailey

I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I’m not a huge fan of musical comedy but Bailey is a cut above. Getting everyone to sing the callbacks to California Dreamin’ (“all the leaves are brown…”) early on was a master stroke – making us all feel part of the show. And Bailey’s genuine delight, not just in playing music himself, but in hearing the audience sing it too, only added to the fun.

Doubt was the loose theme of Dandelion Mind, with Bailey meandering from topics as diverse as the uncertainty engendered by having a coalition government, to vagaries of Australian slang, to religion and analysing renaissance paintings of Doubting Thomas. I liked the fact Bailey pitches his rants at a certain level that, if anything, flatters the audience’s intelligence. And he generally manages to avoid the usual all-too obvious gags that can be cringeworthy in live comedy.

This show is so much more than a mindless laugh: it’s amusing, thought-provoking but most of all, hugely entertaining. I absolutely recommend seeing it.

Bill Bailey’s Dandelion Mind is on at Wyndham’s Theatre until 7 December. Don’t miss it! Buy Bill Bailey tickets here.

“Would you like to go on stage as a Supernumerary in An Inspector Calls and write about it for the blog?” I was asked at what, up til that point, had been a fairly normal meeting with one of London theatre’s PR firms… The answer, of course, was yes!

So, last night I arrived at the Stage Door of Wyndham’s Theatre at quarter to six, ready to be transformed into one of the accusing extras who appear on stage as J B Priestley’s Inspector Goole pushes the posh Birling family into confessing to their neglect of a local girl.

Climbing more stairs than seemed possible (was it four floors up, or five?), I met Sid (Sinead Kennedy) in a room filled with polystyrene heads wearing brown and black wigs. Sid immediately pinned back my hair, and began chatting me through my make-up. Mixing colours in front of a bulb-framed mirror, she explained that the 1940s Blitz look wasn’t particularly glamorous. Very little on the eyes; slightly exaggerated, flat “surly” red lips; and rouge on just the apples of my cheeks. In no time at all, I looked completely different (although the silly grin I’d been wearing since that meeting was still there, I have to admit).

Along a corridor, in a room heavy with the smell of laundry and ironing, Bet Burrow (the Wardrobe Mistress) handed me a brown skirt with pockets, a cute little beige short-sleeved jumper, and a beautiful blue peacoat. My tights would have to be changed for flesh-coloured ones, she said; they didn’t have black back then.

Back down all those stairs, Tom Cottle (who understudies Eric Birling and Gerald Croft) took me on stage and talked me through my cues and actions. His explanation was fantastic, but it was very hard to concentrate: there was so much else to look at. There, for the first time, I was seeing the other side of a London theatre: Wyndham’s gorgeous light-blue-green seats, stretching up and up into the distance, lights shining on stage from a hundred different directions. I wanted to examine the props on stage, the fake cobblestones, the grills where the smoke came from, the painted backdrop, Ian MacNeil’s now-iconic dolls house set, the lights, the curtain… It was all a bit overwhelming!

Tom then took me to the green room where I was introduced to one of the loveliest groups of people I’ve ever met. Described as “actors, students, opera singers, retired people and helpers”, these are the dozen or so extras who work as An Inspector Calls’ “Supers”. (One girl did tell me this was the nicest bunch she’d ever worked with, but I hope every extras’ green room in the West End is full of as much laughter and banter.) Over shared biscuits and tea, everyone was interested to know what I thought of the show, and what I was going to write. Would I tell people that they didn’t really go drinking with the principal actors (who kept themselves to themselves in their separate dressing rooms)? Is it strange that the differences on stage spill out into their social lives? If I make a comparison with the executive team at VL with their separate offices, I have to admit I don’t go drinking with them either… Perhaps it’s not that surprising?

Bet reappeared and asked if I wanted to watch the start of the show from the wings. Interestingly, the cast and crew were all ready, chatting and laughing in their places, at least 5 minutes’ before the 7.30 curtain; when a show starts late, Bet explained, it’s always because of the audience. While a member of the crew stood repeatedly spraying an umbrella with water so it dripped as it was carried on stage, the Inspector appeared at my elbow. “You must be our guest,” he said, giving me a firm handshake. “I’m Nick. Welcome.” For me, this was the most nerve-wracking moment yet. I found my voice and lamely whispered “Break a leg?” at his retreating back. He turned before heading on stage, “Oh. I hope not,” he said, with a tiny Inspector-like smile. And vanished.

Back up the stairs again, Sid added a curly wig (human hair, if you’re interested) and a brown hat to my costume, and the transformation was complete. We stood in the wings, waiting for our cue, and then the moment came to step out on stage, and into the lights.

I could see some of the audience, but tried to concentrate on the faces of the principals in front of me. It was great watching the powerful argument going on between the characters from such close range. We stood for about 13 minutes (I’m told!) with the smoke swirling about us, turned once, then again, and headed off stage.

“Well done! Well done!” chorused in my ears. “Did you enjoy it?”

I did. The whole experience was fantastic: I struggled to keep the silly grin off my face during the curtain call. I wanted to pinch myself to see if this was really happening. It was a real privilege to be part of such an amazing show. Thanks to everyone who made it happen. (Particularly Bet, who was still there after almost everyone else had gone, piling clothes into washing machines ready for tomorrow’s show…)

An Inspector Calls plays at Wyndham’s Theatre until 13 March