Nick: Have you two kissed already?
Polly: No
Kate: Yes
Polly and Nick have it all. Happily married, two children, successful careers. And yet there's something missing... something rare and unforeseen…waiting to add a much-needed sparkle…
Unicorn is Mike Bartlett's explicit, funny and provocative new play, directed by James Macdonald, starring Nicola Walker (Unforgotten, The Split), Stephen Mangan (The Split, Episodes) and Erin Doherty (The Crown, Chloe).
This production contains explicit language, content and scenes of a sexual nature, which some audience members may find intriguing.
__Assisted Performances:__
BSL, Friday 7th March 7.30pm
Audio Described, Saturday 19th April 7.30pm
Captioned, Saturday 5th April 2.30pm
It's slickly directed by James Macdonald on a set distractingly dominated by a ribbed half-dome that sometimes contracts like a concertina and otherwise acts as a backdrop for garish shadows. Scene changes are accompanied by snatches of the music hall song Daisy, Daisy – a hymn to coupledom involving “a bicycle made for two”, which was changed to “a bisexual” in my school playground. Though the play has flaws, and falls apart completely at the end, it’s never less than a rollicking, stimulating ride. If you’ll pardon the expression.
The performances lift it, somewhat. There is a natural ease between Walker and Mangan: she is volubly frustrated, he is hangdog. They are best when the laughter drops off and the intensity is raised but this is not often enough. Doherty brings spirit and comedy. But their relationships are peculiarly devoid of passion, too declarative of their desires. However intimate the conversation becomes, the chemistry in this throuple never quite ignites.
2025 | West End |
West End |
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