“The Plague” at Arcola Theatre
The idea of the plague has a powerful metaphorical aura. Antonin Artaud used it in his seminal...
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 | 24th Apr 2017 | Review, Theatre and Politics, United Kingdom
The idea of the plague has a powerful metaphorical aura. Antonin Artaud used it in his seminal...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 23rd Apr 2017 | Review, Theatre and Gender, United Kingdom
It’s hot. Real hot. And you’re dancing, just lost in music. You’re at the legendary Shrine...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 23rd Apr 2017 | Review, United Kingdom
One good reason to visit the theatre is to see stars in the flesh. And some of the biggest celebs...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 17th Apr 2017 | Review, United Kingdom
The Bush is back! After a whole year of darkness, the West London new writing venue has reopened...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 16th Apr 2017 | Review, Theatre and Gender, United Kingdom
Tamasha is a touring company that specializes in cultural diversity. It nurtures new writers and...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 15th Apr 2017 | Adaptation, London, Review, United Kingdom
Updating the classics is not without its pitfalls. How can a modern audience, which has a...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 4th Apr 2017 | Review, Theatre and Politics, United Kingdom
Oh dear. The first play explicitly about Brexit is being staged by the National Theatre in a...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 3rd Apr 2017 | Adaptation, London, Review, United Kingdom
The rehabilitation of playwright Terence Rattigan has surpassed even the stage when not only are...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 27th Mar 2017 | Review, Theatre and Politics, United Kingdom
Politics is a serious business, but it’s also a fun spectator sport. Think of the duels in Prime...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 19th Mar 2017 | London, Review, United Kingdom
Playwright Philip Ridley has one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary theatre. His...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 14th Mar 2017 | Review, Theatre and Politics, United Kingdom
Oh dear. The first play explicitly about Brexit is being staged by the National Theatre in a...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 8th Mar 2017 | London, Review, United Kingdom
The current crisis in British new writing for the theatre is exemplified by the reliance of so...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 6th Mar 2017 | Review, Theatre and Gender, United Kingdom
The 1980s were a great decade for British women playwrights. During those Thatcher-dominated...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 1st Mar 2017 | Immersive Theatre, London, Review, United Kingdom
One of the reasons that Philip Ridley is the crown prince of imaginative playwriting is that he...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 27th Feb 2017 | Belgium, Review, Theatre for Young Audiences
How do you stage appalling real-life events? I mean, without either being too luridly voyeuristic...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 22nd Feb 2017 | Adaptation, Review, United Kingdom
There are few modern literary fables that really resonate in the wider culture. And most that do...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 21st Feb 2017 | Review, United Kingdom
The new writing year has started slowly. Apart from a couple of obscure fringe shows, there have...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 19th Feb 2017 | London, Review, Theatre and Politics, United Kingdom
Young British writers are often surprisingly unadventurous when it comes to locating their plays...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 14th Feb 2017 | Germany, Review, Theatre and Politics, Translation, United Kingdom
A day or so after Theresa May’s keynote speech about Brexit the words Europe and European carry an...
Read MorePosted by Aleks Sierz | 4th Feb 2017 | Essay, Theatre and Politics, United Kingdom
This year has got off to a very slow start, with exciting new British plays being exceedingly...
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