Anders Lustgarten is Pearson Playwright-in-Residence at the Finborough Theatre, where his first two plays, The Insurgents (2007) and Enduring Freedom (2008), were produced. Other work includes The Punishment Stories, (shortlisted for the 2007 Verity Bargate Award), an adaptation of Slawomir Mrozek's The Police (BAC 2007), The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie (2010) for the National Theatre Studio and If You Don't Let Us Dream Then We Won't Let You Sleep (Royal Court, 2013). Anders is a political activist, has taught on Death Row, been arrested by the Turkish secret police, and holds a PhD in Chinese politics from the University of California. He also won the inaugural Harold Pinter Playwrights Award with a commission from the Royal Court in 2011.

Our China is now the worst of all worlds. Communist politics controlled by greedy capitalists, raw capitalist economics controlled by corrupt Communists. Because they're all the same people! At least under me, the people knew what they were tightening their belts for.
Anders Lustgarten's epic play covers the years 1949 when Chairman Mao founded the Communist Party of China to the present day when investors swoop in to make money off the land. Following a number of characters and generations through these years, it portrays the foundation of modern China.
The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie, from award-winning playwright Anders Lustgarten, received its world premiere on at the Arcola Theatre, London, on 6 April 2016, in a co-production between the Arcola Theatre and HighTide Festival.