My Child

by Mike Bartlett

A real man is strong.
A real man is driven.
A real man provides.

A father finds himself being phased out of his son's life. Denied access to his only child, he goes to extraordinary lengths to hold on to him.

My Child throws us into a violent world where good intentions count for very little, and offers an incisive, honest look at what it means to be a good parent.

Premiered at the Royal Court Theatre Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, this is a remarkably powerful and affecting work from a writer hailed by The S tage as 'one of the most exciting new talents to emerge in recent times'.

Genres: Plays

64 pages, Paperback

First published May 3, 2007

About the author

Michael Bartlett is a British playwright. Mike Bartlett was born on 7 October 1980 in Abingdon, Oxford, England. He attended Abingdon School, then studied English and Theatre Studies at the University of Leeds. In October 2013, Mike won Best New Play at The National Theatre Awards for his play Bull, beating plays from both Alan Ayckbourn and Tom Wells.

(source)

Reviews

[cossette · Rating 3 out of 5]

content warnings: child abuse/neglect, ableism (slur), ageism, infidelity, mentions of death, violence, domestic violence, kidnapping, homophobia (mild),

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bartlett's first produced/published play shows glimmers of the greatness to come, but isn't wholly satisfying on its own. The lack of scene divisions or stage directions makes it somewhat difficult to follow also.

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hadn’t realised it was Mike Bartlett’s first play but it does make sense, and there’s more highs to come. I think having no names and everyone together with the audience makes for some good generalising about how children are used in a breakup, but maybe at the expense of real deep-rooted characters. I might not rush to see it in person

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreakingly bleak. Enjoyed the chaos of characters mingling with audience minus stage directions, jarring shifts from scene to scene felt of a part with a life shifting in front of Man's eyes.

[Robin Wiggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brutal. And fluid, at the same time.

[Tuti · Rating 4 out of 5]

still works very well - impressive, being the first produced play by mike bartlett

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tragic, thought-provoking and feels as though it's over in a matter of seconds.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*
Looks at what makes a man, a father, a husband.