Unicorn

'My point is we're at the frontier here. No one knows. And I find that really fucking exciting.'

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 by Mike Bartlett is an explicit, funny and provocative play, which was first performed at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End in 2025. It was directed by James Macdonald and starred Nicola Walker, Stephen Mangan and Erin Doherty.



Mike Bartlett is one of the UK's most exciting and inventive writers. His plays, including King Charles III, Earthquakes in London, Cock, Albion and The 47th, have been performed at the National Theatre, the Royal Court, the Almeida, The Old Vic, in the West End, around the UK, and on Broadway, winning numerous awards. For television, his works include Doctor Foster, Trauma, Press and Life.



'Snappy and full of quotable lines... a rollicking, stimulating ride... Bartlett is expert at upending audiences' thinking... Unicorn exercises the brain as well as other organs'



'Sophistication, wit and insight... a well-made play that is intricately entertaining... a ménage à trois steeped in an acid understanding of ageing and mortality... Bartlett is in a line with Harold Pinter in making every word count'



'Despite the twinkling title, there is nothing fey about this drama. Bartlett invites the audience to dismantle the traditional idea of marriage... The action is clear and witty... I have rarely seen actors change from within so subtly and definitively'



'Very colourfully candid'



'Very, very funny. Bartlett's writing hits its targets with unerring precision'



'Thoughtful and spikily funny'



'Gloriously funny and deeply empathetic... a profound meditation on relationships, ageing, honesty, and our capacity to change'



'Captivating... Bartlett's writing impresses throughout'



'Bartlett returns to the essential subject of intimacy in an age obsessed with physical sex, this time with more seriousness about mores and moralities beneath his characteristic wickedly-perceptive dialogue... it's often hootingly funny'



'Bold and thought-provoking... takes unexpected twists and turns, keeping the audience permanently intrigued... Bartlett's razor-sharp dialogue... also incredibly funny'



'Storming... a brilliant play... Immediate. Gripping. Filled with raw truths and blunt honesty'



'Bartlett is the master of dialogue and Unicorn mixes sharp humour with weighty matters; sometimes dark but lit up by its dazzling one-liners'