Philip Ridley’s Tarantula at the Arcola Theatre: Blazingly Emotive And Beautifully Poetic Account Of Trauma From A Master Penman
Even the best streamed theatre can’t compete with the live version. It’s simple — with this art...
Read MoreAleks Sierz FRSA is a British theatre critic. He is author of In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today (Faber, 2001), The Theatre of Martin Crimp (Methuen, 2006), John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger (Continuum, 2008) and Rewriting the Nation: British Theatre Today (Methuen, 2011). He has also written, co-authored with Lia Ghilardi, The Time Traveller’s Guide to British Theatre: The First Four Hundred Years (Oberon, 2015). His latest book is Good Nights Out: A History of Popular British Theatre 1940–2015 (Methuen, 2019). Sierz has written for publications including Tribune, The Arts Desk and The Stage, as well as newspapers such as The Independent.
Posted by Aleks Sierz | 22nd Jan 2025 | Covid-19, London, Playwriting, Review, United Kingdom
Even the best streamed theatre can’t compete with the live version. It’s simple — with this art...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 20th Jan 2025 | Adaptation, London, Review, Theatre and Decolonization, United Kingdom
Is resilience the most powerful character trait? When you think about the suffering of the...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 1st Nov 2024 | London, Playwriting, Review, United Kingdom
Fringe venues perform a vital role on the ecology of London theatre. While many shows at these...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 20th Oct 2024 | Adaptation, London, Review, United Kingdom
The myth of Oedipus is so central to our psychic world that I was really surprised how many people...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 7th Oct 2024 | Books, Review, Theatre and Politics, United Kingdom
Roald Dahl evokes mixed feelings. He’s one of the greatest children’s storytellers, whose macabre...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 12th Sep 2024 | Review, Theatre and Politics, United Kingdom
Although the idea of deporting people to Rwanda as a punishment is now, following the defeat of...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 6th Sep 2024 | London, Review, Theatre and Politics, United Kingdom
Adultery is the great staple of modern British playwriting. The anguish of marriage, and the...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 4th Jul 2024 | Dramaturgy, Review, United Kingdom
Every day this week I’m watching a football match, and now — after April’s production of Lydia...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 30th Jun 2024 | London, Review, United Kingdom
The death of Marilyn Monroe, on 4 August 1962, is a wet dream for conspiracy theorists. Like the...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 30th Jun 2024 | Review, Theatre and Politics, United Kingdom
Good timing — as the UK’s general election campaign goes into its final week, this large-scale...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 25th Jun 2024 | Nigeria, Review, United Kingdom
Following the huge success of Benedict Lombe’s Shifters, which transfers soon to the West End, the...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 10th Jun 2024 | London, Review, Theatre and Politics, United Kingdom, United States of America
Sanaz Toossi’s English at the Kiln Theatre: Pulitzer Prize-winning play shows the impacts of a second language on identity
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 2nd Jun 2024 | London, Review, Theatre and Politics
Faye is okay. Or, at least she says she’s okay. But is she really? And, if she really is okay,...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 28th May 2024 | London, Review, Theatre and Art, United Kingdom
When does creativity become mannered? When it’s based on repetition, and repetition without...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 27th May 2024 | London, Review, Theatre and Gender
“Welcome to motherhood, bitch!” By the time a character delivers this reality check, there have...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 25th May 2024 | London, Review, Theatre and Politics
It’s often said that contemporary American playwrights are too polite, too afraid of giving...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 4th May 2024 | Review, Theatre and Gender, United Kingdom
Readers who don’t think much of football won’t be surprised to hear that this tale of murder and...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 1st May 2024 | Documentary Theatre, Review, United Kingdom
British theatre’s love of theatre about theatre offers a chance for some moments of meta, but do...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 22nd Apr 2024 | Dramaturgy, Review, United Kingdom
“He do the police in different voices.” If ever one phrase summed up a work of fiction, and the...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 18th Apr 2024 | Acting, Review, United Kingdom
I’ve never been one for school reunions, but even if I had kept in touch with former classmates I...
Read More