King's Head Theatre, London
Running time: 1hr 30mins
Age Restrictions: This production is recommended for ages 14+.
Tickets from £13.00
Before Heartstopper, Sex Education, and Love, Simon, came Patrick Wilde’s award-winning play, What’s Wrong With Angry?.
Set against a Hi-NRG soundtrack, What’s Wrong With Angry? candidly explores the challenges faced by two schoolboys, Steven Carter and John Westhead, as they grapple with their sexuality under the dark shadow of Thatcher’s Local Government Act of 1988, Section 28 prohibiting the “promotion of homosexuality in schools” and starting a 15-year period of what’s been described as "state-sponsored homophobia".
Previously performed in London’s West End, at King’s Head Theatre, and around the world, and adapted by its author for the multi-award winning Paramount feature film Get Real, What’s Wrong With Angry? is returning to King’s Head Theatre for Pride Month 2026.
“Told with such high energy, passion, tenderness, wit and humour” (Time Out Critics Choice) at its premiere at the London Fringe in 1993, Wilde’s groundbreaking debut is being reimagined for a contemporary audience under the direction of Scott Le Crass (Rose, West End; Toxic, HOME Manchester; BUFF, UK tour).
Lauren Reed Productions proudly presents this revival, which, with the current political landscape lurching to the right, serves as a timely reminder - hard-won freedoms can be revoked.
King's Head Theatre
King's Head Theatre
115 Upper St, Islington, Greater London
London
N1 1QN
The King’s Head Theatre stands on a plot of land that has been used as a public house since 1543, though for most of its history it has been known as the King’s Head Tavern (the name itself coming from an old story about Henry VIII supposedly stopping for a pint on his way to see his mistress). The current building dates back to the 1800s.
Dan Crawford took over The King's Head in 1970, and founded the King’s Head Theatre in a room that had been used as a boxing ring and pool hall, establishing the first pub theatre in London since Shakespeare’s day. Under his leadership the pub became well-known for ringing up pounds, shillings and pence until 2008, a full thirty-seven years after the rest of the UK had switched to decimal currency. Five years on, the old till still sits behind the bar. The pub is packed full of other period details, including gas lights, the original bar, old photography, and coal fires that burn continuously throughout the winter.
Crawford led The King's Head for thirty-five years, establishing it as a breeding ground for new talent and great work. The walls of the pub display the multitude of famous faces that began their career here. In 2010, Olivier Award-winning UpClose Productions became The King's Head Theatre’s resident company, and Adam Spreadbury-Maher was appointed the venue’s second Artistic Director, working alongside Robin Norton-Hale who leads the company’s opera programme. UpClose Productions produce at least eight shows a year, and curate the work of visiting companies all year round. The venue’s reputation for nurturing new talent continues, with pioneering Trainee Director scheme (winner of the Royal Anniversary Trust Award in 1992) still being run by UpClose Productions. Recent graduates have gone on to work at the National Theatre, RSC, Lyric Hammersmith and the Globe, plus many other internationally-renowned companies.
Travel by train: Nearest tube: Angel
