Best theatre of 2012
Guardian critics and writers pick their favourites from an action-packed year on stage
Best theatre of 2012, no 1: In Basildon, Royal Court
David Eldridge's resonant and richly populated play put England's many postwar paradoxes on stage – and it was funny, too
Best theatre of 2012, No 2: Posh
Melissa Denes: Laura Wade's Bullingdon-esque boys took their bacchanalia to the West End this year – and the play's update for the coalition era was violently funny as well as politically explosive
Best theatre of 2012, No 3: Three Sisters, Young Vic
Michael Billington: Nirvana, four-letter words and staging straight out of Beckett – there was nothing expected about Benedict Andrews's production of Chekhov. It was all the more brilliant for it
Best theatre of 2012, No 4: Three Kingdoms, Lyric Hammersmith
Lyn Gardner: This powerful and controversial collaboration between a British writer, a German director and an Estonian designer still haunts
Best theatre of 2012, No 5: Mies Julie, Edinburgh fringe
Lyn Gardner: Yael Farber relocated Strindberg's 1888 classic to post-apartheid South Africa – and cut straight to its dark, throbbing heart
Best theatre of 2012, No 6: Noises Off
Laura Barnett: Lindsay Posner's production of Michael Frayn's brilliant farce, which reveals the barely-controlled chaos lying behind any show – and any life – had the author in stitches
Best theatre of 2012, No 7: Ganesh versus the Third Reich
Maddy Costa: Back to Back's tale of the elephant-headed deity journeying into Nazi Germany to reclaim the swastika made for unmissable viewing
Best theatre of 2012, no 8: Gatz
Andrew Dickson: Elevator Repair Service's epic, eight-hour adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby was a triumph of wit and theatrical ingenuity – and a heroic achievement
Best theatre of 2012, No 9: You Me Bum Bum Train
Andrew Dickson: This summer's new incarnation of the immersive theatre sensation didn't just live up to the hype – it blew it away
Best theatre of 2012, No 10: Ten Billion, Royal Court
Kate Abbott: Our rundown of the year's best British theatre begins with a devastating and deceptively undramatic piece about climate change
