The theatre world was agogVery eager or curious to hear or see something. yesterday. The new director of the National TheatreA theatre group based in London. had just been announced. Indhu Rubasingham is the first woman in its 60-year history to hold the post.

This year has seen many cultural venues and events back on their feet after the pandemic. But some offerings were more impressive than others.

January saw the launch of Prince Harry's memoir, Spare. The Times called it "a 400-page therapy session for mystic Harry."

In February the largest ever exhibition of VermeerA Dutch Baroque Period painter recognised as one of the greatest painters of the 17th Century.'s paintings opened in Amsterdam. It attracted 650,000 visitors.

Taylor Swift embarked on her Eras tour in March. It broke the US record for the most tickets sold in a day: 2.4 million.

A huge TV event in May was the final episode of Succession, compared by some critics to Shakespeare's King LearAs William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was penning his great tragedy, the plague spread across London and reached his own house, killing his landlady, Marie Mountjoy.. But Hollywood writers began a five-month strike. They demanded more money and protection against the use of AI to write scripts.

June saw Liverpool host the Eurovision Song Contest, which Sweden's Loreen won with Tattoo. At GlastonburyAn English town known worldwide today for its yearly music festival., Elton John was the final night's headliner.

Barbie, released in July, was the most successful movie of the year. Oppenheimer, about the inventor of the atomic bombA bomb that rapidly releases nuclear energy. , was released on the same day.

The two were promoted together as "Barbenheimer". But some people thought it bad taste to couple a comedy with a deadly serious film.

The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to the Norwegian writer Jon Fosse.

Many people were very excited about the 60^th anniversary of Dr Who. It was celebrated with three TV specials in which David Tennant returned as the Doctor.  

But 2023 might be remembered mainly for the popularity of South Korean culture, with TV series such as Extraordinary Attorney Woo. Podcasts such as The Rest Is Politics also became very popular.  

Yes: The massive success of Barbie proves it. The year's most popular film was primarily a piece of commercial exploitation by a toy company rather than something aimed at thoughtful people.

No: There is still a huge demand for it, as the Vermeer exhibition showed. Succession was an example of television at its best, and Barbie is actually a very clever film with interesting ideas.

Or... People have always wanted a mixture of the thought-provoking and the entertaining, which is why Shakespeare wrote both tragedies and comedies, and why so many went to see both Barbie and Oppenheimer.