His Dark Materials (play)

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His Dark Materials
Written by Philip Pullman (novel)
Nicholas Wright (play)
Date premiered20 December 2003
Place premiered Olivier Theatre
London
Original languageEnglish
SubjectLife and death, power and authority
Official site

His Dark Materials is a play written by British playwright Nicholas Wright, adapted from the Philip Pullman fantasy novel trilogy of the same title. The production premiered in the Royal National Theatre's Olivier Theatre, London, in 2003. Due to the complications in staging a piece containing the narrative of three books, the play was performed in two parts in alternate performances. The play is published by Nick Hern Books.

Contents

Synopsis

The play follows the same plot as the books – a story of the coming of age of two children, Will Parry and Lyra Belacqua, and their adventures as they wander through a series of parallel universes against a backdrop of epic events. During their quest, the pair encounter various fantasy creatures such as witches and armoured polar bears in a journey which they hope will take them to The Republic of Heaven.

There are however some substantial differences, most notably the removal of the character Dr. Mary Malone, whose role in the story is turned over to the witch Serafina Pekala. Similarly the eponymous amber spyglass of the third novel, associated with Malone, is also largely absent.

Productions

Original production

The original production was staged at the Olivier Theatre, National Theatre and ran from 20 December 2003 until 27 March 2004. [1] The production was directed by Nicholas Hytner and featured the following cast:

All other parts were played by members of the company.

The technical crew were as follows:

2004 revival

The production was revived, again at the Olivier, National Theatre, in 2004. It opened on 20 November 2004 and ran until 2 April 2005. [2] The production was again directed by Nicholas Hytner with Matt Wilde and featured the following cast:

The technical crew remained largely the same as the original production with only the following changes/additions:

In 2009 the Birmingham Repertory Theatre presented a new production directed by Rachel Kavanaugh before transferring to the West Yorkshire Playhouse and touring the UK. [3]

Awards and nominations

The production won two Laurence Olivier Awards in 2005 for Best Set Design for Giles Cadle and Best Lighting Design for Paule Constable. [2] [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>His Dark Materials</i> Novel trilogy by Philip Pullman

His Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife (1997), and The Amber Spyglass (2000). It follows the coming of age of two children, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they wander through a series of parallel universes. The novels have won a number of awards, including the Carnegie Medal in 1995 for Northern Lights and the 2001 Whitbread Book of the Year for The Amber Spyglass. In 2003, the trilogy was ranked third on the BBC's The Big Read poll.

Lyra Belacqua, later known as Lyra Silvertongue, is the heroine of Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials. In His Dark Materials Lyra is a young girl who inhabits a universe parallel to our own. Brought up in the cloistered world of Jordan College, Oxford, she finds herself embroiled in a cosmic war between Lord Asriel on one side, and a deity figure known as The Authority and his Regent, Metatron, on the other. Lyra also features prominently in the subsequent trilogy The Book of Dust.

<i>The Subtle Knife</i> 1997 novel by Philip Pullman

The Subtle Knife is a young-adult fantasy novel published in 1997 and the second book in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. The novel continues the adventures of Lyra Belacqua recounted in the first novel, Northern Lights, as she investigates the mysterious phenomenon of Dust. Will Parry is introduced as a companion to Lyra, and together they explore new worlds in the search for Will's father.

<i>The Amber Spyglass</i> 2000 novel by Philip Pullman

The Amber Spyglass is the third and final novel in the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. Published in 2000, it won the 2001 Whitbread Book of the Year award, the first children's novel to do so. It was named Children's Book of the Year at the 2001 British Book Awards, and was the first children's book to be longlisted for the Booker Prize.

<i>Northern Lights</i> (Pullman novel) 1995 novel by Philip Pullman

Northern Lights is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Belacqua to the Arctic in search of her missing friend, Roger Parslow, and her imprisoned uncle, Lord Asriel, who has been conducting experiments with a mysterious substance known as "Dust".

Will Parry is one of the protagonists in Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials, along with Lyra Belacqua. He first appears in the series at the start of the second novel, The Subtle Knife, and continues through to the final book, The Amber Spyglass. Introduced as a 12-year-old boy, he meets and befriends Lyra in the world of Cittàgazze and teams up with her in order to uncover the mysteries of Dust and the disappearance of his father many years previously. He takes possession of the Subtle Knife which he uses to aid Lord Asriel in his bid to destroy the Authority.

Dust (<i>His Dark Materials</i>) Fictional particle in His Dark Materials trilogy

In Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust trilogies, Dust or Rusakov particles are particles associated with consciousness that are integral to the plot. In the multiverse in which these trilogies are set, Dust is attracted to consciousness, especially after puberty; the Church within the series associates Dust with original sin and seeks its end. Pullman described Dust in an interview as "an analogy of consciousness, and consciousness is this extraordinary property we have as human beings".

Dæmon (<i>His Dark Materials</i>) Fictional being from Philip Pullmans His Dark Materials

A dæmon is a type of fictional being in the Philip Pullman fantasy trilogies His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust. Dæmons are the external physical manifestation of a person's "inner-self" that takes the form of an animal. Dæmons have human intelligence, are capable of human speech—regardless of the form they take—and usually behave as though they are independent of their humans. Pre-pubescent children's dæmons can change form voluntarily to become any creature, real or imaginary. During adolescence a person's dæmon undergoes "settling", an event in which that person's dæmon permanently and involuntarily assumes the form of the animal which the person most resembles in character. Dæmons are usually of the opposite sex to their human, though same-sex dæmons do exist.

Lord Asriel is a character in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Asriel is a member of the aristocracy in a parallel universe dominated by the Church. Possessed of enormous determination and willpower, he is fierce in nature and commands great respect in both the political and academic spheres, being a military leader and a fellow of Jordan College in his world's version of Exeter College, Oxford.

Marisa Coulter, known simply as Mrs. Coulter, is a character in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy and one of the main antagonists of Northern Lights: the former lover of Lord Asriel and biological mother of Lyra Belacqua.

<i>The Golden Compass</i> (film) 2007 film directed by Chris Weitz

The Golden Compass is a 2007 fantasy adventure film written and directed by Chris Weitz that is based on the 1995 novel Northern Lights by Philip Pullman, the first installment in Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which was published as The Golden Compass in the United States. It stars Nicole Kidman as Marisa Coulter, Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra Belacqua, and Daniel Craig as Lord Asriel, alongside Sam Elliott, Ian McKellen, and Eva Green. In the film, Lyra joins a tribe of seafarers on a trip to the far North in search of children kidnapped by the Gobblers, a group supported by the universe's rulers, the Magisterium.

<i>The Golden Compass</i> (video game) 2007 video game

The Golden Compass is a 2007 action-adventure puzzle video game developed by Shiny Entertainment for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows, and by A2M for Nintendo DS. The game was published on all platforms by Sega, and was released in Europe in November 2007, and in North America in December. It is the video game of the 2007 film of the same name, although it is also partially based on the 1995 novel upon which the film is based, Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. The game was released prior to the film and features a slightly different sequence of events towards the end of the story, as well as additional footage at the end of the game not seen in the film. This was due to a last minute re-edit of the last half-hour of the film by New Line Cinema, which could not be incorporated into the game, as it was based on the shooting script. Due to this the game manages to portray motives and themes of the book in much more detail, including details only present in later books of the trilogy. The Golden Compass was the last game developed by Shiny before Foundation 9 Entertainment merged them with The Collective. A significant feature has Dakota Blue Richards and Freddie Highmore reprising their roles from the film.

Coram Boy is a play written by Helen Edmundson with music composed by Adrian Sutton, based on the 2000 children's novel of the same name by Jamila Gavin, an epic adventure that concerns the theme of child cruelty. The play is called a "play with music", rather than a musical.

His Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of Northern Lights (1995), The Subtle Knife (1997), and The Amber Spyglass (2000). This is a list of the fictional races and creatures in the novels.

This article covers the fictional locations in the His Dark Materials trilogy and related works by Philip Pullman.

Giles Cadle is a British set designer. He studied architecture at Kingston, followed by a postgraduate diploma in stage design at Nottingham. He has designed sets for theatre, opera and musical productions in the UK, Germany, New Zealand, and the USA. He won an Olivier Award for his work on the National Theatre production of His Dark Materials.

<i>La Belle Sauvage</i> 2017 novel by Philip Pullman

La Belle Sauvage is a fantasy novel by Philip Pullman published in 2017. It is the first volume of a planned trilogy titled The Book of Dust and is set twelve years before Pullman's His Dark Materials. It presents events prior to the arrival of the six-month-old Lyra Belacqua at Jordan College, Oxford.

<i>His Dark Materials</i> (TV series) 2019 British fantasy television series

His Dark Materials is a fantasy drama television series based on the trilogy of novels by Philip Pullman. It is produced by Bad Wolf and New Line Productions, for BBC One and HBO, with the latter handling international distribution. The show follows the orphan Lyra as she searches for a missing friend and discovers a kidnapping plot related to an invisible cosmic substance called Dust.

<i>Serpentine</i> (book) 2020 novella by Philip Pullman

Serpentine is a fantasy novella written by Philip Pullman, set after the events of his His Dark Materials trilogy and before the events of The Secret Commonwealth, the second book of his The Book of Dust trilogy. The manuscript was originally sold at a charity auction in 2004 and the book was publicly released in October 2020.

References

  1. "National Theatre : Productions : His Dark Materials Part I 2003/04". Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  2. 1 2 "National Theatre : Productions : His Dark Materials Part I". Archived from the original on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
  3. "His Dark Materials, Birmingham Rep, Birmingham". The Independent. 8 April 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  4. Laurence Olivier Awards: Past winners | Official London Theatre Guide Archived 12 April 2006 at the Wayback Machine