Chimerica

‘Gloriously rich, mind-expanding… if we see a better new play this year, we’ll be extremely lucky’

‘Hurtles along with a mixture of humour, dramatic tension and terrific visual ingenuity… a hugely entertaining and at times deeply affecting play… I cannot recommend it too highly’

‘A gripping, multilayered and meticulously researched thriller… like an expansive HBO mini-series expertly compacted into an evening at the theatre… Kirkwood’s sharp, incisive dialogue is splendid’

‘A tremendously bold piece of writing… topical without being gimmicky and well-informed without being showily so… a landmark production’

‘Ambitious, sprawling, morally fascinating, as gripping as a good novel’

‘A taut, complex and nuanced thriller with [an] exhilaratingly ambitious scope’

‘Rich, riveting and theatrically ambitious… fizzing with wit and intelligent ideas… a work of real brilliance’

‘Absolutely riveting… an important, far-reaching drama’

Lucy Kirkwood is a British playwright and screenwriter whose plays include: The Human Body (Donmar Warehouse, London, 2024); Rapture (promoted as That Is Not Who I Am, Royal Court Theatre, London, 2022); The Welkin (National Theatre, London 2020); Mosquitoes (National Theatre, 2017); The Children (Royal Court Theatre, 2016); Chimerica (Almeida Theatre & West End, 2013; winner of the 2014 Olivier Award for Best New Play, the 2013 Evening Standard Best Play Award, the 2014 Critics’ Circle Best New Play Award, and the Susan Smith Blackburn Award); NSFW (Royal Court, 2012); small hours (co-written with Ed Hime; Hampstead Theatre, 2011); Beauty and the Beast (with Katie Mitchell; National Theatre, 2010); Bloody Wimmin, as part of Women, Power and Politics (Tricycle Theatre, 2010); it felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now (Clean Break & Arcola Theatre, 2009; winner of the 2012 John Whiting Award); Hedda (Gate Theatre, London, 2008); and Tinderbox (Bush Theatre, 2008). She won the inaugural Berwin Lee UK Playwrights Award in 2013.