When top Brit playwright Mike Bartlett isn’t uncannily predicting the future of the monarchy (King Charles III) or the US presidency (The 47th) or adapting the myth of Medea into a smash telly drama (Doctor Foster) he can often be found writing about sex: his last West End show was a splashy revival of his sardonic bisexuality drama Cock.
Next year he’ll reunite with Cock director James Macdonald to explore another area of human sexuality with his new play Unicorn, in which the wonderful Nicola Walker will star opposite Stephen Mangan as Polly and Nick, a happily married couple who decide to add a little sparkle into their lives in the form of Erin Doherty’s Kate. Fact fans will be delighted to note that this is Walker and Mangan’s second fictional marriage following hit TV drama The Split, which is also scheduled to return for a special in 2025.
With Unicorn billed as ‘explicit, funny and provocative’, Bartlett is a master of taking vaguely awkward topics and spinning acerbic, sideways looks gold out of them – it should hopefully prove an early highlight of 2025.
It’ll run at the Garrick Theatre, replacing musical Why Am I Single?, which will close on January 19.
Unicorn is at the Garrick Theatre, Feb 4-Apr 26 2025. Buy tickets here.
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