The voice of Haddon’s narrator is vivid and intriguing, and the images interspersing the text have been translated by designers Bunny Christie (set), Paule Constable (lighting) and Finn Ross (video) into visual spectacle, with a set that combines projections, drawings and boxes that can be repurposed as different objects. Like the book, the production is ingeniously conceived. There’s a strong current of sentimentality that makes this very much a story for those on the outside looking in, which perhaps has been exaggerated by the crudities of adaptation to the stage. This means that narrative and dialogue have been imported wholesale and given theatrical dress-ups. The production is an artfully conceived and skilfully manifested adaptation, which remains, as playwright Simon Stephens himself says, “loyal” to the book. It was a hit before it even opened, with the entire season sold out. What could possibly go wrong? As far as the rapturous opening night audience was concerned, not much. A lauded production that began in London’s Cottesloe Theatre and ended up playing seasons in the West End and Broadway, it has been brought to Melbourne by the MTC and Arts Centre Melbourne.Ī much beloved bestselling book, adapted for the stage by a remarkable contemporary playwright for the National Theatre. The National Theatre’s stage adaptation is the Melbourne Theatre Company’s headline act for 2018.
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May 2023
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