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[img]http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.3/742?ns=guardian&pageName=The+people+who+are+making+British+theatre+happen%3AArticle%3A1313172&ch=Stage&c3=Guardian&c4=Theatre%2CStage%2CUK+news%2CCulture+section&c6=Laura+Barnett%2CSarah+Phillips&c7=09-Dec-02&c8=1313172&c9=Article&c10=Feature&c11=Stage&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FStage%2FTheatre[/img]Britain's leading actors, directors, playwrights and producers on why 2009 has been such a great year for theatre

Samuel West actor, 43

"What makes British theatre great is the fact that the majority of our talent is not based  in London. But this needs to be protected by paying a fair wage to all those involved in regional repertory."

Highlights of 2009: Lead role in Enron.

Coming up: West End transfer for Enron  in January.

Thea Sharrock director, 31

"British theatre is on a real high at the moment. It's about the sheer quality and range of productions that are being staged.  I think this comes from the National Theatre – it's so well-run and eclectic. People see  a range of plays being staged there and it  makes them unafraid of doing something difficult or unusual."

Highlights of 2009: Equus on Broadway,  As You Like It at the Globe, Mrs Klein at  the Almeida.

Coming up: The Misanthrope, starring Keira Knightley, opens in the West End next week.

Jane Horrocks actor, 45

"We've had lots of great new writing in the last couple of years – let's have more of it, please. But we've had nothing to rail against under Labour – perhaps if we get a Tory government, we'll see more agit-prop."

Highlights of 2009: Annie Get Your Gun at London's Young Vic, and the BBC4 drama Gracie.

Coming up: Potential project at the Young Vic.

Simon Stephens playwright, 38

"There's a unique respect for playwrights  in this country, and a unique relationship between actors and writers."

Highlights of 2009: His play Pornography had a successful run at London's Tricycle theatre, while his latest, Punk Rock, sold out in London and Manchester.

Coming up: New plays for the Lyric Hammersmith and the Brighton festival.

Rupert Goold director, 37

"We're seeing a lot of new, exciting productions in regional theatres – the core repertoire isn't necessarily what audiences there want. But there's still a crisis in regional funding."

Highlights of 2009: Enron at Chichester and the Royal Court. Divided critics with his first opera, Turandot, at English National Opera.

Coming up: Will become associate director with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2010.

John Richardson 35 and Kate Pakenham 34; producers at London's Old Vic

Richardson: "The future is about collaborations between regional theatres and London's West End."

Pakenham: "We've got a great talent in Britain for staging work in found spaces. If theatre remains a visceral, physical experience,  it can act as a counterbalance to the isolation of the internet."

Highlights of 2009: Dancing at Lughnasa and Inherit the Wind.

Coming up: John Guare's Six Degrees  of Separation.

Caro Newling producer, 52

"There's been an extraordinary surge of playwrights emerging over the last three or four years, and a superb generation of independently minded artistic directors who are prepared to commission, and take risks on, new work."

Highlights of 2009: Architect of the Old Vic/Brooklyn Academy's Bridge Project; produced the West End show Three Days of Rain.

Coming up: Second year of the Bridge Project, and US tour of Shrek the Musical.

Steve Waters playwright, 44

"We're seeing a lot of plays that are a topical response to events, especially at places like the Tricycle and the Bush. We've got to ensure that theatre remains this supple."

Highlights of 2009: His double-bill about climate change, The Contingency Plan, at London's Bush Theatre.

Coming up: Radio broadcast of The Contingency Plan, and new play for the Donmar.

Dominic West actor, 40

"The strongest actor in British theatre at the moment is Mark Rylance."

Highlights of 2009: After The Wire, returned to the London stage in Helen Edmundson's adaptation of Life Is A Dream at the Donmar.

Coming up: Directing BBC drama Moving On in Liverpool in January.

Alia Bano playwright, 28

"British theatre is very cutting-edge. Playwrights here aren't afraid of saying something controversial. And people  in theatre are very supportive of each other; they give advice, listen and create a very productive atmosphere. It's a little bubble  of excitement, really."

Highlights of 2009: Won the Evening Standard theatre award for most promising playwright for her debut play, Shades.

Coming up: New plays for the Royal Court and the National Theatre.

Kwame Kwei-Armah playwright, 42

"The financial situation is making whole generations politicised, and that's coming through in our theatre. I would like to see greater diversity in terms of the voices  coming out of the black community. Often I feel we're being commissioned to only  write about our horribleness."

Highlights of 2009: New work at the Tricycle.

Coming up: Radio play about Robert Mugabe; a new play for the National Theatre.

Amanda Drew actor, 39

"It's new writing that makes British theatre great. For an actor, there's nothing quite like creating a character for the first time, and discussing every nuance of the writer's words."

Highlights of 2009: Lead roles in Enron at Chichester and the Royal Court, and Parlour Song at the Almeida.

Coming up: West End transfer of Enron.

Simon Russell Beale actor, 48

"The dynamic in British theatre has always been about balancing our rich theatrical tradition with new writing. The high quality  of what we do has remained the same since about 1620."

Highlights of 2009: Performed in The Cherry Orchard and The Winter's Tale at the Young Vic and the Brooklyn Academy, New York, as part of the Bridge Project collaboration.

Coming up: New production of Dion Boucicault's London Assurance at the National in March.

Lucy Prebble playwright, 28

"The reason British theatre is booming is that the people who go to the theatre – the upper-middle classes – actually have more disposable income than they ever have before. They've seen rates go down on VAT and their tracker mortgages, and their jobs are safeguarded."

Highlights of 2009: Her play Enron won five-star reviews; nominated for best play at the Evening Standard theatre awards.

Coming up: West End transfer of Enron,  working on film version. Several TV projects, and a new play.

Josie Rourke artistic director, 33

"We're better at getting things put on quickly here than in the US. A play I like can land on my desk, and within six months we're putting it on."

Highlights of 2009: Commanded a strong season as artistic director at London's  Bush theatre.

Coming up: The Taming of the Shrew for the Chicago Shakespeare Company.

Ella Hickson playwright, 24

"We've got a great bunch of women writers who are not being judged in gender terms – it's like they've finally realised we're more than just boobs. We're also losing our fetishistic obsession with diversity. About 60% of this country is middle class – we shouldn't be afraid of trying to reflect that on stage."

Highlights of 2009: Her first full-length play, Precious Little Talent, went down a storm at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Coming up: A film version of Precious Little Talent, and new works for Edinburgh's Traverse theatre and Glasgow's Oran Mór.

Felix Barrett director, 31

"The new writing that's happening is extraordinary. Everyone is desperately trying to prove themselves and come up with the next thing. We at Punchdrunk feel guilty about our [relatively high] ticket prices, but our shows rarely break even."

Highlights of 2009: Collaborated with Damon Albarn and Adam Curtis on It Felt Like a Kiss, the new work by his theatre company, Punchdrunk.

Coming up: A new promenade production with English National Opera.

Naana Agyei-Ampadu actor, 27

"The government really takes theatre seriously. Funding schemes such as the Travelex £10 ticket deal are a great way to nurture people's interest in theatre."

Highlights of 2009: Played a sex-starved singer in Been So Long at the Young Vic and on tour.

Coming up: Lead role in new Channel 4 film The Wags of Great Britain.

Nica Burns producer, 50

"We have a problem, as British people, with standing up and saying we're good at something. Well, we're good at theatre – we always have been. We've got such a great canon of interesting writing, whether classical repertoire or new work."

Highlights of 2009: Producing West End shows The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and Endgame.

Coming up: Productions in planning include Ibsen's Ghosts and O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night.

Polly Stenham playwright, 23

"There is some apprehension about a change of government. The Royal Court and National rely on funding, and I don't know how they could be more frugal – they're so careful  with their cash as it is. But I did see David Cameron at the Court once, so maybe he's  into theatre."

Highlights of 2009: Second play, Tusk Tusk, opened at the Royal Court.

Coming up: Screen adaptations of That Face and Tusk Tusk; a new work for the Royal Court.

Howard Davies director, 64

"The politics and social commentary that has been at the driving heart of British theatre had gone a bit soft – but it's now starting to revitalise itself. The massive scam in the financial sector has made everybody angry, and this is starting to show in theatre."

Highlights of 2009: Won best director at the Evening Standard theatre awards for Burnt By the Sun at the National.

Coming up: New version of Bulgakov's The White Guard at the National.

Laurie Sansom director, 37

"The rejuvenation of regional theatre has continued this year, but the recession has  put pressure on us: we have to rely on local audiences rather than tourists. But in such times it is essential to hold your nerve, and continue producing provocative and theatrically exciting work."

Highlights of 2009: Young America season at Northampton's Royal & Derngate Theatre, where he is artistic director.

Coming up: Expected London transfer of the Young America season.

Ian Rickson director, 45

"British plays have the power to be so many things – metaphors, polemics – even in a tiny studio that seats just 40 people. We tend to think of theatre in Britain as something rarefied, like croquet, but it's not – it's a space for talking about the world."

Highlights of 2009: Directing Jerusalem at the Royal Court.

Coming up: West End transfer of Jerusalem.

Rory Kinnear actor, 31

"It doesn't feel as if we're living through a 'golden age' – that was really between 1550 and 1610. There are still the same strengths and weaknesses in British acting that we've always had – the balance between adhering to the text and being innovative with it."

Highlights of 2009: Burnt by the Sun at  the National.

Coming up: Hamlet at the National and Measure for Measure at the Almeida.

Hayley Atwell actor, 27

"Theatre is an immediate form of escapism. When there are difficulties in our own lives there is an even stronger need for theatre to move, excite and make people think."

Highlights of 2009: A View From the Bridge in the West End.

Coming up: The US remake of The Prisoner, and a TV adaptation of Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth.

John McGrath artistic director, 47

"There is a perception of a split between new writing, classic work and everything else – the unusual, the interactive, the physical. Actually, the most interesting theatre work is going on in the spaces between those three."

Highlights of 2009: Launched the National Theatre Wales, as artistic director.

Coming up: NTW's first season includes Michael Sheen in a Passion play and site-specific work all over Wales from March.

Roy Williams playwright, 41

"I can't remember the last time there has been a year when I've seen so many pieces I've been blown away by – not just plays, but performances and direction. But I still want to see more diversity – black audiences who are not just going to see a black play."

Highlights of 2009: New work at the Tricycle in London; RSC tour of his Days of Significance.

Coming up: New play Sucker Punch will open at the Royal Court next summer.

Juliet Stevenson actor 53

"I've been on stage most evenings this  year, which means I haven't seen much. Tough times have generated a deep appetite for serious theatre – but a golden age? I'm  not so sure: most theatres are still run  by men, and we need more women writing and directing."

Highlights of 2009: Nomination for best actress in the Evening Standard theatre awards for Duet for One, at the Almeida and Vaudeville theatres, London

Coming up: Playing a model agency head in Desert Flower, a film about Somalian model Waris Dirie.

• Theatre

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