“The Phlebotomist” at The Hampstead Theatre
Contemporary British theatre loves time travel — and not just to the past. It also enjoys...
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 | 9th Apr 2019 | London, Review, United Kingdom
Contemporary British theatre loves time travel — and not just to the past. It also enjoys...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 7th Apr 2019 | London, Review, United Kingdom
There are plenty of plays in which a character finds their own voice. But what about stories which...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 6th Apr 2019 | London, Review, United Kingdom
Wow, what a collection of talent: this show stars Peaky Blinder Cillian Murphy, and Enda Walsh’s...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 5th Apr 2019 | Essay, United Kingdom
On Friday, March 29, 2019, was a black letter day. That is because it used to be the date of...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 3rd Apr 2019 | London, Review, United Kingdom
Pain. A world of pain. Pain. For anyone suffering from a rare condition called Complex Regional...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 28th Mar 2019 | LGBTQ+ Theatre, London, Review, United Kingdom
There is a classic conflict in many gay plays: between characters who identify as gay (in the...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 26th Mar 2019 | London, Review, United Kingdom
Okay, so this is the play that will be remembered for the character names that have unusual...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 16th Mar 2019 | London, Review, United Kingdom
Tom Hiddleston. What can I say? His career has sprinkled handfuls of stardust from the beginning:...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 14th Mar 2019 | London, Review, United Kingdom
Fifteen-year-old Rory, a schoolgirl on the adventure of a lifetime, is puzzled. “Why,” she asks,...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 12th Mar 2019 | London, Review, Theatre and Religion, United Kingdom
The events of 9/11 were a global wake-up call — and that includes theatre. In the wake of the War...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 10th Mar 2019 | London, Review, Theatre and Politics, United Kingdom
In the medieval Mappa Mundi, which hangs in Hereford cathedral, the Garden of Eden is pictured at...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 10th Mar 2019 | London, Review, United Kingdom
Whenever I hear the word “cosmopolitan” I think of Europe in the 1920s: German Expressionism,...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 9th Mar 2019 | France, London, Review, United Kingdom
Well, you have to hand it to French playwright Florian Zeller — he’s certainly cracked the problem...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 8th Mar 2019 | London, Review, United Kingdom
There is no doubt that Peter Shaffer’s Equus is a modern classic. But does that justify reviving...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 7th Mar 2019 | London, Review, Theatre and Gender, United Kingdom
Titles matter: they send out messages. So, in the current #MeToo climate, isn’t it a bit...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 6th Mar 2019 | London, Review, United Kingdom
James Saunders is one of British theatre’s forgotten playwrights. Although he wrote some 70 plays...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 2nd Mar 2019 | London, Review, Theatre and Gender, United Kingdom
Okay, let’s start with a definition: “Cougar: an older woman who actively seeks the casual, often...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 22nd Feb 2019 | London, Review, United Kingdom
With Brexit and Northern Ireland constantly in the news, the timeliness of this play is not in...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 20th Feb 2019 | London, Review, United Kingdom
Gender fluidity should be fun—after all, it’s all about love. And love can take any shape it...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 15th Feb 2019 | London, Review, United Kingdom
All hail Arthur Miller, chief of London’s modern revivals this year. Which is odd, given that 2019...
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