The Lovely Bones (play)

Last updated
The Lovely Bones
Written by Alice Sebold (novel)
Bryony Lavery (play)
Date premiered1 September 2018 (2018-09-01)
Place premiered Royal & Derngate, Northampton
Original languageEnglish
Genre Drama
Setting1973–1985 Pennsylvania and heaven

The Lovely Bones is a 2018 British play based on the 2002 novel of the same name by Alice Sebold. It was adapted for the stage by Bryony Lavery.

Contents

Production

The production is directed by Melly Still, designed by Ana Inés Jabares-Pita with lighting design by Matt Haskins, sound design by Helen Skiera and movement design by Mike Ashcroft.

The production made its world premiere at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton on 1 September 2018 running until 22 September. It toured to Everyman Liverpool (25 September to 6 October), Northern Stage (9 to 20 October), Birmingham Repertory Theatre (30 October to 10 November) and New Wolsey Theatre (13 to 17 November). [1]

Following its 2018 tour, the production returned to the Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 10 September (previews from 6 September) until 21 September 2019. It embarked on another UK tour to Theatre Royal Nottingham, Exeter Northcott Theatre, Norwich Theatre Royal, The Lowry Salford, Rose Theatre Kingston, Hackney Empire, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Oxford Playhouse, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford and Chichester Festival Theatre.

Cast and characters

Character2018 UK tour cast2019 UK tour cast
Susie Salmon Charlotte Beaumont
Len Fenerman/Samuel HecklerPete AshmoreHuw Parmenter
Abigail Salmon Emily Bevan Catrin Aaron
Ruana Singh/FrannyBhawna BhawsarAvita Jay
Lyn/Cop/Mrs FlanaganSusan BovellLynda Rooke
Ruth Connors/Buckley SalmonNatasha CottriallLeigh Lothian
Mr HarveyKeith DunphyNicholas Khan
Ray Singh/Principal Caden/HolidayKaran GillSamuel Gosrani
Jack SalmonJack Sandle
Lindsey SalmonAyoola SmartFanta Barrie

See also

Related Research Articles

Bryony Lavery is a British dramatist, known for her successful and award-winning 1998 play Frozen. In addition to her work in theatre, she has also written for television and radio. She has written books including the biography Tallulah Bankhead and The Woman Writer's Handbook. She taught playwriting at the University of Birmingham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Rep</span> Grade II listed theatre on Station Street in Birmingham, England

The Old Rep is a Grade II listed theatre, located on Station Street in Birmingham, England. When it was constructed in 1913, it was the United Kingdom's first ever purpose-built repertory theatre. When built, it became the permanent home for Barry Jackson's newly formed Birmingham Repertory Company, which began life in 1911, born from his amateur theatre group, The Pilgrim Players, founded in 1907. Jackson funded the construction of the theatre and established a professional, resident company there, which soon became a major powerhouse within the British theatre due to its innovative stagings of the works of both Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw, resulting in some considering it to be Birmingham’s answer to The Old Vic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeds Playhouse</span> Theatre in Leeds, England

Leeds Playhouse is a theatre in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1990 in the Quarry Hill area of the city as the West Yorkshire Playhouse, successor to the original Leeds Playhouse, and was rebranded in June 2018 to revert to the title "Leeds Playhouse". It has two auditoria and a studio space, hosts a wide range of productions, and engages in outreach work in the local community.

<i>Blue/Orange</i> Play written by English dramatist, Joe Penhall

Blue/Orange is a play written by English dramatist, Joe Penhall. The play is a sardonically comic piece which touches on race, mental illness and 21st-century British life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yvonne Arnaud Theatre</span> Theatre in Guildford, England

The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre is a theatre located in Guildford, Surrey, England. Named after the actress Yvonne Arnaud, it presents a series of locally produced and national touring productions, including opera, ballet and pantomime. The theatre has two performance venues, the main auditorium and the smaller Mill Studio.

George William Stiles is an English composer of musicals for the stage.

Talawa Theatre Company is a Black British theatre company founded in 1986.

Sophie Bould is a British theatre and TV actress from Shropshire, where she attended Thomas Telford School and St Dominic's High School for Girls in Brewood.

Terry Johnson is a British dramatist and director working for stage, television and film. Educated at Birmingham University, he worked as an actor from 1971 to 1975, and has been active as a playwright since the early 1980s.

Sean Foley is a British director, writer, comedian and actor. Following early success as part of the comedy double act The Right Size and their long-running stage show The Play What I Wrote, Foley has more recently become a director, including of several West End comedy productions. From 2019 to 2024, he was appointed as Artistic Director of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal & Derngate</span> Theatre in Northampton

Royal & Derngate is a theatre complex in the Cultural Quarter of Northampton, England, consisting of the Royal Theatre, Derngate Theatre and the Northampton Filmhouse. The Royal was built by theatre architect Charles J. Phipps and opened in 1884. Ninety-nine years later in 1983, Derngate, designed by RHWL, was built to the rear of the Royal. Whilst the two theatres were physically linked, they did not combine organisations until a formal merger in 1999; they are run by the Northampton Theatres Trust. The Royal Theatre, established as a producing house, has a capacity of 450 seats and since 1976 has been designated a Grade II listed building; Derngate Theatre seats a maximum of 1,200 and is a multi-purpose space in which the auditorium can be configured for a variety of events including theatre, opera, live music, dance, fashion and sports. The Northampton Filmhouse, an independent cinema built to the side of the complex, opened in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Repertory Theatre</span> Theatre in Birmingham, England

Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre companies and one of its most consistently innovative.

People is a play by the English playwright Alan Bennett.

<i>King Charles III</i> (play) 2014 play by Mike Bartlett

King Charles III is a 2014 play in blank verse by Mike Bartlett that premiered at the Almeida Theatre in London. The play is a fictional account of the accession and reign of King Charles III of the United Kingdom, and the limiting of the freedom of the press after the News International phone hacking scandal.

<i>The Exorcist</i> (play) 2012 play by John Pielmeier

The Exorcist is a play by John Pielmeier based on the novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and is part of The Exorcist franchise. The story revolves around a young girl, Regan MacNeil, who is possessed by a demonic spirit. Her mother, Chris, seeks out to the church to perform an exorcism.

<i>Nativity! The Musical</i> 2017 stage musical written and directed by Debbie Isitt

Nativity! The Musical is a stage musical written and directed by Debbie Isitt, based on Isitt's 2009 film of the same name.

Inua Marc Mohammed Onore de Ellams II is a Nigerian-born British poet, playwright and performer. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to the arts.

<i>Rebus: Long Shadows</i>

Rebus: Long Shadows is a 2018 play written by Ian Rankin and Rona Munro. It is an installment of Rankin's Inspector Rebus series, written for the stage for the first time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ana Inés Jabares-Pita</span> Spanish designer

Ana Inés Jabares-Pita, born January 21, 1987, is a Spanish designer working across opera, dance, theater, film, concerts and exhibitions.

<i>Pride and Prejudice*</i> (*sort of) 2018 play by Isobel McArthur

Pride and Prejudice* is a play by Isobel McArthur, with songs, based on Jane Austen's novel. The play is designed for a cast of five or six women, each playing a servant and several of the main characters. After an initial production in Scotland in 2018 and a tour in 2019–20, it opened in the West End in 2021 and toured again in 2022–23. The production won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play.

References

  1. "The Lovely Bones Tour". britishtheatre.com. Retrieved 2018-11-01.