Mike Bartlett interview

In The Observer, Hermione Hobby meets playwright Mike Bartlett:

"We've got to get away from the idea that it's good to go to the theatre," says young playwright Mike Bartlett over lunch at London's Royal Court theatre, where his new play is about to open. "It isn't church. There's nothing innately good about it. Most theatre is still really bad."

Ignoring his plate of pasta, the 29-year-old is on a roll. "It has to appeal to people who do jobs and have lives. Theatre about theatre is the most awful, terminal nonsense."

Cock, by Mike Bartlett, opens at The Royal Court in London on 13 November (but is already sold out).