Step aside best actor/actress/play etc this is what was noteworthy for me in theatre land, in 2017.

Menagerie award The Ferryman was an award winning play in many way but for me it deserve an extra gong for fur and feathers - a cute little rabbit and a goose both made scene stealing appearances. Babies? Schmabies. Real, live animals on stage are the thing.

Exhibit A: Roman Tragedies, Barbican Theatre

Event theatre and star studded audience award Ivo Van Hove's  six hour Roman Tragedies at the Barbican was an event for many reasons not least for allowing audience members to wander onto the stage between scenes and perch wherever they could get a seat. Photos, without flash, and tweeting (see exhibit A) were also encouraged. It also attracted probably the most thespy audience I've seen so far: Simon Stephens, Rupert Goold and Kate Fleetwood, Kyle Soler and Pheobe Fox, John Heffernan, Angus Wright, Jamie Lloyd, Ruth Wilson, Ian McDiarmid, Jonjo O’Neill, Jeremy Herrin and Leo Bill.

Best kiss When Paddy Considine and Laura Donnelly's characters kissed in The Ferryman, Royal Court it was so charged with years of repressed feelings it took my breath away and broke my heart a little bit.

Best spit - Not since I (probably) gave an award to the cast of Richard III for all spitting on Ralph Fiennes has their been a gobbing incident worthy of note but step forward Jasmine Hyde who spat so spectacularly on Harry Melling during Jam, Finborough Theatre.

Hottie of the month kinda lives on...these were my particular favourites in 2017: Theo James, Andrew Garfield, Douglas Booth and James Norton but if I had to choose one it would be Theo because I'm such a huge fan and it was the first time I've seen him on stage.

Holidays got in the way of me posting October's theatre hottie and girl crush so I decided to package up it up with November into a bumper edition - see it as an early Christmas present.

OCTOBER

Theatre hottie: This was a tough one, because it was a month where the suave, sophisticated and hot Mark Strong was on stage in The Red Barn at the National, although he did keep his shirt on. But he was just pipped at the post by Jack Derges as 'The Cowboy' in The Boys in the Band. I might have giggled like a 14-year-old when he first stepped on stage looking like this. Certainly, there was a knowing look that passed between PolyG and I. It must have been such hard work for Mark Gatiss. What can I say, I'm shallow.

Mark Gatiss and Jack Derges in The Boys In The Band, Park Theatre. Photo Darren Bell

The Boys in the Band is transferring to the Vaudeville Theatre for a two week run in February.

Now I must apologise in advance because a) there are two hotties because I can't decide between them and b) I don't know the actors names. I've scoured the internet for a cast list of Belarus Free Theatre's Burning Doors but I can't find one. If anyone spots one let me know and I'll add them in. So this month's hotties are, for the time being, going to be known as the Belarus Boys. But before you scroll onto the picture, on more serious note, if you want to support the artists and activists imprisoned in Belarus and Russia here's how you can do that.

After watching Matthew Lewis in Unfaithful - you know, the Harry Potter child actor who got all hot when he grew up - I was asked if he would be my hottie of the month. Unfortunately for Matthew the bar had already been set exceptionally high because of Platonov with Stan fav James (makes me a bit giggly) McArdle.

He would have walked it even without the long johns - if you've seen the play you will know what I mean. To say that I'm stupidly excited about Angels in America next year is an understatement and I haven't even got the tickets yet.

And my girl crush is linked because it is Nina Sosanya who plays the intelligent, feisty and elegant Anna in Platonov. So here are a couple of pics of James and Nina both deserving the hottie/crush status:

I do have a crush on Jesse Eisenberg after seeing him in The Spoils which took me a bit by surprise; it must be something about seeing him perform on stage rather than screen. But then I popped along to see the 15 minute long Pigs and Dogs at the Royal Court which had the lovely Alex Hassell in it. He was on my hottie list in 2014 when he played Prince Hal in Henry IV and a runner up to Sam Marks in January and although it was only a brief performance, he still makes me sigh.  Here he is not quite believing the 10/10 score I've given him ;0)

Alex Hassell in Pigs and Dogs, Royal Court. Photo by Tristram Kenton

Have three contenders for theatre hottie this month. First up is Matthew Marrs who played Jimmy (and all the other characters) in the rather good Odd Shaped Balls at the Old Red Lion. Then there was Alexander Hulme who was the hottest Claudius I've ever seen in Gertrude - The Cry at Theatre N16 (didn't enjoy the play so much). And finally, there was the lovely Jack Farthing in Wild at Hampstead Theatre who even treated us with some shirtless push ups on stage - Wild is on until July 23 and is also rather good.

It's definitely a close run thing but I think I'm going to go for Jack Farthing in Wild:

And here is a bonus 'laughing in rehearsal' pic:

Now I do have a soft spot for Ben Miles who is in Sunset at the Villa Thalia at the National at the moment (review to come) but this month's hottie is all about the great Dane, the Prince...Hamlet.

The stripped to the waist fight between Paapa Essiedu's Hamlet and Marcus Griffiths' Laertes in the RSC production made it difficult to choose between them but I completely fell in love with Paapa's likeable, hurting Prince. So my theatre hottie for May is Paapa Essiedu. And, because I think the boys have been getting a lot of attention, I'm introducing 'girl crush of the month' see below to find out who is the inaugural recipient.

Paapa Essiedu as Hamlet for the RSC

At the start of the month there were two potential contenders in my mind. Previous hottie Eelco Smits who is playing Henry VI in Ivo Van Hove's Kings of War (review is on its way). And the pretty and muscular Kit Harington in Dr Faustus.

Now, when Eelco won hottie of the month last September for A Song From Far Away he was naked for most of the play. Poly insisted that he wouldn't be getting his kit off in Kings of War but he did, bless him, strip down to his pants to change into PJ's so that was a real 'shame'.  I'm starting to wonder if he ever keeps his clothes on when he's on stage.

But Eelco already had stiff competition from Kit who'd spent most of the second half of Dr Faustus in his pants and has a body that is no stranger to the gym. It was almost gratuitous. Almost. So the lovely Kit Harington is my theatre hottie of the month for April:

Kit Harington in Doctor Faustus Running at the Duke of York's Theatre. Photo: Marc Brenner

And London's theatre hotties are back. After a dry February in which I had to go state-side to find a stage hottie, March has seen not one, not two but three contenders for the crown.

First up there was Elliot Cowen looking rather hot in combat trousers in the brilliant Les Blancs at the National Theatre. Then there was Jack O'Connell who stripped down to boxers in an otherwise odd dream sequence in The Nap but both were pipped by the rather lovely James Norton in Bug at Found 111. It is an odd play and his character does go a little crazy but oh he did look hot in his vest even when it got blood stained.

Photo by Simon Annand

My theatre-going in February didn't yield a real hottie so I opened it up to nominations. I'd like to say they flooded in but in the end I had two: Tobias Menzies in Uncle Vanya at the Almeida (thanks @chrisb715) and Russell Tovey in A View From The Bridge on Broadway (thanks @ahrmi). Guess who I chose? Sorry Tobias. To be fair Russell Tovey does have form, he has been a theatre hottie before.

Photo by Sarah Krulwich/New York Times

PS There is a film version of the play The Pass which got Russell Tovey on the hottie list first time around so keep an eye out for that.