For a play built on the foundations of a sex comedy, its ideas about love are far more provocative.
It might leave the pearl-clutching matinee crowd squirmingโbut thatโs exactly the point.
๐๏ธ Read the full review at theatregb.com/2025/02/14/r...
Unicorn is, at its core, a play about assumptions.
I assumed I knew what this play would be, just as we assume we understand love, control, and the shape relationships should take.
Bartlett dismantles those certainties, exposing the contradictions, power struggles, and unspoken fears beneath them.
Where the play occasionally falters, itโs lifted by a cast truly at the top of their game.
๐น Stephen Mangan (Nick) wears the role like a glove.
๐น Nicola Walker (Polly) is both quietly affecting and deeply funny.
๐น Erin Doherty (Kate) is the standout. A sledgehammer to the coupleโs repression.
The fact that Unicorn is explicitly set in 2025 is no accident. Bartlett presents polyamory as the next great social revolution. A response to monogamyโs failures. A blueprint for love & survival. But does Unicorn interrogate this enough?
Bartlett is a master at taking ideas that could be played for easy laughs and twisting them into something weightier.
Here, the British sex comedy is the Trojan horse; inside is a play about identity and repression. This isnโt just a play about sex. Itโs a play about what we use sex to cover up.
Beneath the comedy, Unicorn is a play about:
๐ Ageing
๐ญ Fantasy vs Reality
๐ช Repression & Power
๐ญ The lies we tell ourselves
And whether we can ever be truly honestโnot just with the people we love, but with ourselves.
Nick and Polly, a middle-class couple in a midlife lull, decide to shake things up by inviting a younger thirdโPollyโs student Kateโinto their relationship.
What starts as a brisk, innuendo-laden romp quickly deepens into something unsettling and existential.
Iโll admit itโI had Unicorn pegged all wrong.
Maybe it was the title. Maybe it was the playful branding. Maybe it was the cast of three of Britainโs most recognisable TV actors.
Whatever the reason, I expected something fun, flirty, and maybe a little forgettable. Of course, that was my mistake.
๐ฆ Unicorn isnโt what you think it is.
In Mike Bartlett's newest play, you're lured in with the promise of a cheeky British sex comedyโbut beneath the laughs, this play rips apart assumptions about love, power, and polyamory.
So how does Unicorn break the mould?
For a play built on the foundations of a sex comedy, its ideas about love are far more provocative.
It might leave the pearl-clutching matinee crowd squirmingโbut thatโs exactly the point.
Read the full review at theatregb.com/2025/02/14/r...
Unicorn is, at its core, a play about assumptions
I assumed I knew what this play would be. Just as we assume we understand love, control, and the shape relationships should take.
Bartlett dismantles those certainties, exposing the contradictions, power struggles, and unspoken fears beneath them.
Where the play occasionally falters, itโs lifted by a cast truly at the top of their game.
๐น Stephen Mangan (Nick) wears the role like a glove.
๐น Nicola Walker (Polly) is both quietly affecting and deeply funny.
๐น Erin Doherty (Kate) is the standout. A sledgehammer to the coupleโs repression.
The fact that Unicorn is explicitly set in 2025 is no accident. Bartlett presents polyamory as the next great social revolution. A response to monogamyโs failures. A blueprint for love & survival. But does Unicorn interrogate this enough?
Bartlett is a master at taking ideas that could be played for easy laughs and twisting them into something weightier.
Here, the British sex comedy is the Trojan horse; inside is a play about identity and repression. This isnโt just a play about sex. Itโs a play about what we use sex to cover up.
Beneath the comedy, Unicorn is a play about:
๐ Ageing
๐ญ Fantasy vs Reality
๐ช Repression & Power
๐ญ The lies we tell ourselves
And whether we can ever be truly honestโnot just with the people we love, but with ourselves.
Nick and Polly, a middle-class couple in a midlife lull, decide to shake things up by inviting a younger thirdโPollyโs student Kateโinto their relationship.
What starts as a brisk, innuendo-laden romp quickly deepens into something unsettling and existential.
Iโll admit itโI had Unicorn pegged all wrong.
Maybe it was the title. Maybe it was the playful branding. Maybe it was the cast of three of Britainโs most recognisable TV actors.
Whatever the reason, I expected something fun, flirty, and maybe a little forgettable. Of course, that was my mistake.
๐
Previews start 6 June 2025. Tickets are on sale now at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Donโt miss this heroic adventure on the West End stage! ๐บโก
๐๏ธ For full cast details, and to find out more, read the full story at theatregb.com/2025/01/24/f...
๐ชAdapted from Disneyโs 1997 animated classic, Hercules tells the story of a demigod on a quest to prove himself and reclaim his place on Mount Olympus.
๐บ Featuring legendary songs like โGo the Distanceโ and โZero to Hero,โ this production arrives fresh from its Hamburg premiere last year.
The iconic Muses are ready to bring the house down, with:
๐ค Candace Furbert as Thalia
๐ต Sharlene Hector as Clio
๐ถ Brianna Ogunbawo as Melpomene
๐ผ Malinda Parris as Calliope
๐ง Robyn Rose-Li as Terpsichore
๐ Kamilla Fernandes as Standby Muse
Joining the previously announced Luke Brady as Hercules is:
๐ Mae Ann Jorolan as Meg
๐ Trevor Dion Nicholas (Hamilton) as Phil
๐ฅ Stephen Carlile (The Lion King) as Hades
โจ Craig Gallivan and Lee Zarrett as Bob and Charles
๐ญ Find out who's going the distanceโฆ Disneyโs Hercules is gearing up for its West End debut at Theatre Royal Drury Lane this summer, and the full cast has been announced! ๐โก
๐ธ by Matt Crockett
๐๏ธ Tickets and details at nationaltheatrescotland.com. Donโt miss Brian Coxโs highly anticipated return to the Scottish stage! ๐
๐๏ธ Read the full story at theatregb.com/2025/01/24/b...
๐งโโ๏ธ Black Hole Sign by Uma Nada-Rajah, a poignant drama about NHS nurses.
โ๏ธ The Fifth Step by David Ireland: The acclaimed two-hander starring Jack Lowden and Martin Freeman transfers to Londonโs @sohoplace (MayโJuly).
๐ Also announced for NTOS 2025:
๐ช Through the Shortbread Tin by Martin OโConnor (touring rural venues, AprilโMay).
โฃ๏ธ Small Acts of Love by Frances Poet, reflecting on the bonds forged in Lockerbie.
๐๏ธ Graham: "We still live in the long shadow of the 2008 financial crash..so it feels right to be interrogating it artistically. But we hope to do so in a show full of music and story, larger-than-life characters, cheeky humour, and some ghosts from Scotlandโs centuriesโ long past thrown in as wellโฆโ
James Graham's latest drama charts the 2008 financial crash and the RBS demise. His previous plays include Ink, This House and Dear England.
๐๏ธ Make It Happen premieres at Dundee Rep Theatre in late July, before running at Edinburghโs Festival Theatre as part of the Edinburgh International Festival.
๐ญ Brian Cox to star in James Grahamโs new satire Make It Happen, as the National Theatre of Scotland announces its full 2025 season ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ
๐๏ธ Tickets at sohoplace.org. Priority booking for members is open now; general sale begins 27 Jan. Donโt miss this intense and moving play featuring two of the UKโs finest actors! ๐
Read more at theatregb.com/2025/01/24/m...
Irelandโs sharp and unflinching writing has been praised for its humour and honesty. Past works include the acclaimed Cyprus Avenue and Ulster American.
