Theatre Uncut’s Bubble, a streamed film about social media and the woke generation is educational, but unexceptional.
Mates blogger: Aleks Sierz
Aleks Sierz is one of over 45 theatre bloggers who are part of the MyTheatreMates collective. This page features Aleks's posts on MyTheatreMates. Take a look at our full list of theatre bloggers and our aggregated feed of all our Mates' posts. We’re always looking for new theatre bloggers. Could that be you? Learn about how to join us.
Aleks Sierz FRSA is a theatre critic, and author of the seminal study of new 1990s playwrights, In-Yer-Face Theatre. His other books include Rewriting the Nation, The Theatre of Martin Crimp, John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger, The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary British Playwrights and Modern British Playwriting. His latest book (co-authored with Lia Ghilardi) is The Time Traveller’s Guide to British Theatre. He also works as a journalist, broadcaster, and lecturer. Aleks blogs independently at www.sierz.co.uk and tweets at @alekssierz.
The latest from Aleks on MyTheatreMates
Text of the Day: I Think We Are Alone
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.
‘A powerful account of female middle-class anxieties in Britain today’: SHOE LADY – Royal Court Theatre
Shoe Lady at the Royal Court is not the most involving play in the world, but it does have an evocative resonance.
‘Has some watchable, even intriguing, moments’: CORPSE! – Park Theatre
Gerald Moon’s 1983 comedy-thriller, Corpse!, is a typical example of a style of writing about murder that is entertaining in its plotting, but offers little else of dramatic pleasure.
‘Stories that have the compelling power of truth’: THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP – Soho Theatre
A verbatim piece about the subject of transatlantic deportation, The Special Relationship is a well researched, strongly contemporary piece.
Text of the Day: The Haystack
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.
Text of the Day: Pass Over
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.
‘Has a strong emotional integrity’: I THINK WE ARE ALONE – Theatre Royal Stratford East & Touring
Frantic Assembly’s new show I Think We Are Alone is thematically coherent, but the writing is too explicit and the staging too static.
‘Great play, great revival’: THE CLAIM – Shoreditch Town Hall
In the era of Brexit, and the government’s new immigration proposals, Tim Cowbury’s The Claim feels suddenly even more relevant.
Text of the Day: Endgame
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.
‘This is the fiercest account of racism on the London stage’: PASS OVER – Kiln Theatre
Despite its absurdist style, Pass Over is a political play whose message is indisputable. The evening is a powerful mixture of male camaraderie, brutality and almost casual defiance.
‘Feels particularly timely’: A NUMBER – Bridge Theatre
If the intimate play A Number feels a bit lost in the vast space of the Bridge, the performances are big enough to give it the required punch.
Text of the Day: Death of England
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.
Text of the Day: The Welkin
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.
‘A beautifully imagined fantastical catastrophe’: FAR AWAY – Donmar Warehouse
This well-focused revival of Caryl Churchill’s, brief dystopic classic Far Away is vivid but frankly unexceptional.
‘Timely & relevant drama’: THE HAYSTACK – Hampstead Theatre
If neither newspapers nor intelligence services will lose sleep over the way Blyth represents them, The Haystack is insightful enough to be a contemporary state-of-the-nation parable.
‘Highly entertaining & definitely disturbing’: DEATH OF ENGLAND – National Theatre
A new monologue about rage, racism and national identity, Death of England at the National Theatre is magnificent in its fury and perception.
‘The satisfying bleakness of the text is allowed to breathe’: ENDGAME – Old Vic
A star cast led by Daniel Radcliffe, Alan Cumming and Jane Horrocks make light work of the Beckett classic Endgame.
Text of the Day: You Stupid Darkness!
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.
Text of the Day: The Sugar Syndrome
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.