David Maybury | Blog

News broke yesterday that Terry Pratchett’s Nation is to be transformed into a National Theatre production by Mark Ravenhill. Bookwitch reckons that it will be in the Olivier and will appear some time in November. So far that’s all the details I’ve read.

There have been plenty of decent other stage adaptations in the press this month - including The Snowman, Michael Morpurgo’s Why the Whales Came and Martin Murphy’s version of Peter Pan. And if that has whet your appetite - why not visit the Ark in Dublin to see Marina Carr’s The Giant Blue Hand - tickets are only €10!!

(See what I did there? Reeled ye in slowly, got you interested with news about the Terry Pratchett play and before you knew what had happened? I had you booking tickets for the Ark. Clever, huh?)

I’m not sure what it is about stage performances that I have never been able to adjust to - everything seems forced (staged?). Someone crying on stage is just short of rubbing clenched fists under their eyes or a new character entering a room will nearly stomp for attention. The current Frank McGuinness adaptation of Miss Julie, Strindberg’s play about class, is no different.

The set built for the run was impressive - the kitchen is reproduced brilliantly with almost neurotic detail - but is it a good sign if all I can really praise is the stage and lighting? The actors - Catherine Walker, Declan Conlon and Mary Murray - deliver powerful performances at times but not until much later in the play.

I was dissappointed by McGuinness’s adaptation - the BBC Drama version was almost identical - except for the Irish-isms that have been injected. It was good, but not “an extraordinarily fluent and very earthy adaptation” as one review reports.

Dermod has a different take on things over at bonhomie.

The American theatre, or Broadway at least, is seeing the end of its most successful (financially) season to date as the shows begin to wind-down. The news that ‘Lestat’ - developed with Elton John and Anne Rice - is closing on Sunday sees the end of Warner Brothers first Broadway show. Other shows up and down Broadway are closing, or closed, including shows starring David Schwimmer and Julia Roberts. (via NYT)

Is Dublin experiencing similar theatrical success?

There has been some very successful productions staged this year and the current offerings host some of Irish theatres biggest names, but will it be Dublin’s most successful year to date? The Beckett centenary has increased awareness and filled more than a few seats; all across the country the sallow and stolid face of Beckett has reminded us of our theatre, a spectre playing upon the cultural conscience - making you feel guilty for not paying more attention to your own culture and arts.

Currently on Offer in Dublin

The Gate, which hosted Brian Friel’s ‘Faith Healer’ earlier this year, is currently playing Beckett’s ‘Waiting For Godot’.

Friel has another play in Dublin at the minute, this time in the Abbey, an adaptation of Turgenev’s ‘A Month in the Country’.

The Gaiety is playing host to John B. Keane’s ‘The Year of the Hiker’ which is produced by the critically acclaimed Druid Co. while the Project Theatre hosts ‘Hysteria’ and ‘Wallflowering’.