New Michael Morpurgo adaptation on stage this autumn
Harriet Clifford
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
A new adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s book ‘Private Peaceful’ will play a two-week season at London’s Garrick Theatre from 7 November. Prior to its West End run, the play will be performed at Bristol Old Vic on 21, 22 and 24 October.
Eve Dunlop
The first new production to be staged indoors in London’s West End since theatres closed in March, Private Peaceful is presented by Jack Maple and Brian Zeilinger-Goode for Take Two Theatricals and the Barn Theatre, and was originally adapted by Simon Reade. Having opened at Barn Theatre’s first outdoor theatre festival in August 2020, the production by BoxLess Theatre will be performed to a reduced and socially distanced audience.
Set during World War One, the story relives the life of Private Tommo Peaceful, a young soldier awaiting the firing squad at dawn.
Private Tommo is played by Emily Costello, the first female performer to play the part on the professional stage. This production is the first to have two cast members rather than being a solo piece, as it was originally written. James Demaine will play Charlie and other roles - the performance has been staged so that the two actors never touch and are social distanced.
Michael Morpurgo said, ‘Private Peaceful, the play adapted for the stage by Simon Reade, has had a long and remarkable journey. From book to play to film, the story has grown in stature with each transformation. But perhaps now has been the most remarkable moment.
‘With theatres shut down all over the country, The Barn Theatre in Cirencester decided to put on its first indoor show, one of the first in the country, a new co-production by BoxLess Theatre and Take Two Theatrical of Private Peaceful, taking all necessary precautions, a production that has garnered glowing reviews, and is shortly on its way to the Garrick Theatre in London. This is our theatre at its courageous best: powerful, innovative, unforgettable. Theatre is on its way back, coming home!’
Simone Reade added, ‘Private Peaceful is arguably the most moving and profound of all Michael Morpurgo’s extraordinary stories. Since I first adapted it for the theatre as a one-man show in 2004, it has toured the world, been adapted into a large-cast play for schools and youth theatres, recorded for BBC Radio 4 and made into a feature film.
‘And now comes this refreshing new production from BoxLess Theatre and the enterprising Barn Theatre, Cirencester, which has reinvented the original stage play, blazing a trail for audiences hungry to return to theatre and celebrate all humanity as we live on through these dark times; it is a beacon of hope and a thing of joy for all of us.’
Tickets are priced from £15.
Performances at Bristol Old Vic:
7:30pm 21 Oct
7:30pm 22 Oct
2:30pm (BSL interpreter) 24 Oct
7:30pm 24 Oct
Performances at the Garrick Theatre:
Two-week run 7-22 Nov
Remembrance Day Gala and Press Night 7pm, 11 Nov
Special performance 11:01am 11 Nov