--- description: 1 KING CHARLES III Prince Charles ascends the throne at last, and all hell breaks loose. Mike Bartlett's speculative drama has a sharp grasp of... title: Theater image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Theater (10 Dec 2015) by [Richard Zoglin](/author/richard-zoglin/) ## Richard Zoglin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 10, 2015 12:06 PM CUT by [Richard Zoglin](/author/richard-zoglin/) ## Richard Zoglin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 10, 2015 12:06 PM CUT 1 KING CHARLES III Prince Charles ascends the throne at last, and all hell breaks loose. Mike Bartlett’s speculative drama has a sharp grasp of politics, the private lives of public figures and the logical absurdity of the British monarchy. One of the great political plays of our time. 2 HAMILTON (See right) 3 ARTHUR MILLER Miller’s centennial year was marked by two outstanding productions: Ivo van Hove’s expressionistic take on A View From the Bridge and the Signature Theater’s powerful revival of the less celebrated Holocaust play Incident at Vichy. 4 THE KING AND I The Tony-winning revival boasts spectacle, heart and beautiful voices, making a good case for the 1951 show as the best Rodgers and Hammerstein classic. 5 THE CHRISTIANS The minister of a megachurch has a spiritual revelation and prompts a crisis in the congregation. Lucas Hnath’s knotty play is a rarity: a serious investigation of the nature of faith. 6 THE VISIT Kander and Ebb’s last collaboration, about a woman who takes revenge on her hometown, was too dark for Broadway–but too good to go unnoticed. 7 CONSTELLATIONS Nick Payne’s one-act charts a love affair in scenes that keep rewinding and replaying in alternate versions. Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson made this high-wire act fly. 8 JOHN A couple’s fraying relationship is further tested by the ghosts of an oddball Pennsylvania inn. Annie Baker’s 3½-hour play moves at its own pace but is strangely enthralling. 9 FINDING NEVERLAND Critics had the hook out, but this spirited and nimbly staged musical about J.M. Barrie and the creation of Peter Pan is a delight. 10 WOLF HALL The adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s novels about Henry VIII’s court was a model of Royal Shakespeare Company polish and storytelling skill. Hamilton Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop musical, recounting Alexander Hamilton’s rise from poor immigrant to Founding Father and architect of the U.S. banking system, is now Broadway’s favorite’s sellout. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4144127/theater/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4144127/theater/"},"headline":"Theater (10 Dec 2015)","datePublished":"2015-12-10T12:06:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-26T19:58:23.176Z","description":"1 KING CHARLES III Prince Charles ascends the throne at last, and all hell breaks loose. Mike Bartlett's speculative drama has a sharp grasp of...","url":"https://time.com/4144127/theater/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Richard Zoglin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/richard-zoglin/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4144127/theater/","name":"Theater (10 Dec 2015)"}}]}] ```