1,377 stories by "Aleks Sierz"
Royal Court, Jerwood Upstairs, London: Following the outstanding success of her first play, The Westbridge, in 2011, Rachel De-lahay - who came to the Royal Court through their Unheard Voice…
You could call it the iceberg syndrome. It's a work of art that is a flash, a sliver or an imprint: think of a passport photograph, a cheap trinket or a half-finished graffiti. Yet beneath t…
Bush Theatre, London: The debut play by the Olivier award-winning actor Rory Kinnear (currently playing Iago in Othello at the National Theatre) is being staged at <a href="http://ww…
Once a staple of British drama, the middle-class family play has recently, after about a decade of being unfashionable, made a remarkable comeback. This current example is the playwriting de…
Berkoff is back. The legendary actor, director, playwright and author has just finished a stint on stage in Edinburgh and is about to open a new production in the West End. Steven Berkoff's …
In playwriting, there's near-perfection, perfection and oh-my-God-how-I-wish-I'd-written-that. Terry Johnson's Hysteria, which was first staged at the Royal Court 20 years ago, is definitely…
Royal Court, Jerwood Downstairs, London: At long last Dennis Kelly makes his Royal Court debut. The talented playwright, who has demonstrated his versatility by writing the book for Matilda …
Since his arrival about a decade ago, Dennis Kelly has proved himself to be a master of versatility. He has written in-yer-face shockers such as Osama the Hero and Orphans, elaborate experim…
Trafalgar Studios, London: Jamie Lloyd's third production for the Trafalgar Transformed season is Alexi Kaye Campbell's multi-award-winning debut play, The Pride, which he first st…
Is there such a thing as a gay play? As opposed to a play by a gay writer, or one which has some gay content or is about gay characters. The programme to this atmospheric and moving revival …
Donmar Warehouse, London: Josie Rourke, artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, continues her support of young award-winning playwright Nick Payne, whose debut - If There is I Haven'…
Britain today: while the total of car crashes is falling the number of whiplash claims is rising by 25 per cent. Yes, the compensation culture is speeding ahead. In Nick Payne's follow up to…
There's a united nations of Great Britain feel about this site-specific Royal Court show: it is a National Theatre of Scotland piece played at the London Welsh Centre as a co-production with…
With site specific shows it's a natural urge to start by reviewing the location. And I'm not strong enough to resist this temptation. So here goes. This new piece by American playwright Anni…
Some plays have such historic significance that it is surprising that they are not revived more often. I blame the obsession with novelty that characterises our culture. So it's great to see…
When any arts institution gets a new head, the media scrutiny of their first work is usually intense. The Royal Court theatre's new artistic director, Vicky Featherstone, has defused this te…
Tricycle Theatre, London: Director Polly Teale and Shared Experience return to the Tricycle with a beautifully crafted new play by award-winning playwright Alexi Kaye Campbell, who wrote his…
One of the promises of artistic director Nicholas Hytner when he took the helm of this flagship ten years ago was to stage new and innovative musicals. His problem, of course, is that these …
I love poetic play titles, but even I would admit that sometimes they are difficult to remember. In this case, the name of Brad Birch's new play has taught me a lesson that I'm happy to pass…
Bush Theatre, London: After a career as an actor and scriptwriter, New Yorker Ayad Akhtar turned to playwriting and his debut, which premiered in Chicago in 2012, was a huge success. It tran…
There's one big problem about being an Asian actor in America " you just don't get the big parts. So the multitalented Ayad Akhtar put acting on hold, and turned to screen writing, producing…
Rikki Beadle-Blair is a high-energy polymath. He's a real phenomenon. Raised by his lesbian mum in sarf London, he wrote his first play at the age of seven and was, he claims, already direct…
Most theatre directors produce work which is visually the same as everyone else's. Katie Mitchell doesn't. Her plays are always brilliantly acted, highly atmospheric and often use film media…
Scandi thrillers have a lot to answer for. Ever since the small-screen success of the Swedish Wallander series, based on the books by Henning Mankell, there has been a host of other must-see…
Some plays are game-changers. When Jonathan Harvey's Beautiful Thing opened at the tiny Bush Theatre in 1993 the joy that radiated off the stage was ample affirmation that this tale of puppy…
