1,386 stories by "Aleks Sierz"
Almeida Theatre, London: Mike Bartlett makes his Almeida Theatre debut with this "future history play" set in the time when Prince Charles becomes king. As well as being based on a…
Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, London: Simon Stephens loves German theatre: ever since his collaboration with Sebastian Nubling on plays such as Pornography and Three Kingdoms, he h…
If rock is magic, then what about its creators? Are they wonderful magicians, or empty charlatans? Infused by the spirit of the Patti Smith song of the same name, playwright Simon Stephens's…
Are the 2010s a rerun of the 1980s? You know that familiar feeling of déjà vu: economic collapse, royal wedding and Tories in power. Not to mention privatization and the spirit of rampan…
I must confess to feeling a warm tremble every time I hear "I Vow to Thee, My Country", a result of the potent mix of Gustav Holst's stately music and Cecily Spring Rice's allusive words. So…
How do you explore extremes of feeling on stage? In cult pen-master Philip Ridley's new play, a 75-minute monologue that won plaudits in Edinburgh last year, he takes us by the hand and thro…
Political farces always start with a distinct disadvantage " the reality is so much sillier than the fictional version. Never mind, if anyone can make a stage comedy funny it is Ray Cooney, …
Gate Theatre, London: In its 35th anniversary year, and for its Beginnings Season, this venue is staging the British premiere of Spanish playwright Rodrigo Garcia's monologue, in which …
This venue continues its promotion of American drama with another prize-winning play from across the pond. Hot on the heels of Gina Gionfriddo's Rapture, Blister, Burn, with its casting of E…
Few anniversaries have got off to such a strong start in our current culture as that of the outbreak of the First World War. This new play by Peter Gill, which opened last night, is original…
Soho Theatre, London: The winner of last year's prestigious Verity Bargate award for best new play, The One is an explicit, sometimes excruciating, often hilarious debut play about an e…
Another week, another postwar classic. Hot on the heels of last week's revival of Oh What a Lovely War comes another legendary play from the Joan Littlewood museum of great one-offs. This ti…
The trend of celebrating anniversaries by digging out old classics might suggest that no good new plays are being written, but at least it gives us the chance to re-assess their worth. Theat…
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court, London: Writer Abi Morgan makes her Royal Court debut with this adaptation of The Mistress Contract, a short memoir, published last year, of a sexual…
What exactly is unconventional about an unconventional couple? In Abi Morgan's new two-hander, an adaptation of last year's book of the same name by She and He (a West Coast American couple …
Feminism suddenly seems to be all the rage in London theatre. Yesterday, I reviewed Nick Payne's Blurred Lines, and tonight I saw this show by American provocateur Gina Gionfriddo, whose Bec…
You can't accuse Nick Payne of being fainthearted. His new play explores what it means to be a woman and it features a wonderful all-woman cast. But wait a minute: isn't he a man? And what d…
Gate Theatre, London: The third show in this venue's These American Lives season, this multi-award-winning play by New York playwright Dan O'Brien features two actors playing more …
Unlike television, with its series of Spooks and Homeland, theatre has more or less ignored the secret services. For reasons of snobbery (thrillers are somehow beneath the interest of young …
There are few things as depressing as whinge drama. But the Anglo-Irish have a reasonable claim to be considered the Republic of Ireland's forgotten losers. The term means the wealthy Protes…
The Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 is one of those epoch-making events that are so huge as to be almost beyond our comprehension. It affected the lives of literally millions of peop…
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court, London: In its tradition of alternative Christmas shows, the Royal Court is hosting an adaptation of Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist's nove…
Vampire romance is a genre which has a mysterious tendency. Every time it migrates from one art form (say novel) to another (say film) it loses some of its darkness and acquires a strange sw…
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court, London: Vicky Featherstone's new regime at the Royal Court not only upholds this venue's traditions as a playwright's theatre, but also …
You can see why sport makes for good drama: it has competition, conflict and clashes of egos. It delivers a result, and it has a touch of glory. At its best, it can send you out of the theat…
