Seven time BAFTA award-winner Steve Coogan will play several characters in the first ever stage adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. The new play is opening at the Noël Coward Theatre in October next year.
The thrilling adaptation is coming from an all-star team, with Armando Iannucci co-adapting the film for the stage alongside writer and comedian Sean Foley, who recently directed Ben Elton’s Olivier-nominated 2020 stage play, The Upstart Crow. Foley is also directing.
Kubrick’s black comedy Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, was originally released in 1964 and told the story of the internal battle between a bunch of US generals, the President of the United States, and his advisors and staff, after one US Air Force general orders nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. Often heralded as one of the greatest films ever made, Dr. Strangelove was selected for preservation by the United States Library of Congress in 1989.
“The idea of putting Dr Strangelove on stage is daunting,” said Coogan, whose recent acting credits include Greed (2019), Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) and the BBC’s upcoming Jimmy Savile drama, The Reckoning. “A huge responsibility. It’s also an exciting challenge, an opportunity to bring this timeless classic to a new audience. Knowing that I will be part of a creative team led by Sean Foley and Armando Iannucci means I will be working with the best people.”
Coogan and Iannucci famously worked together on the popular BBC radio shows On the Hour, and Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge. They also teamed up for the following spin-off Partridge TV series, radio shows and film. Iannucci then went on to write and direct several popular series including the highly acclaimed Number 10 political satire The Thick of It, and the award-winning White House comedy, Veep.
Can’t wait to get started. We’re all hoping to send people home with a smile and a scream. #DrStrangelove https://t.co/HYgRm05s1h
— Armando Iannucci (@Aiannucci) September 26, 2023
“It’s a tale of our time and it needs one of the most amazing talents of our time to tell it: I’ve seen Steve Coogan close-up for many years now, and can tell you that no-one gets right under the skin of a character the way he does,” said Iannucci. “It’s going to be a thrill for all of us.”
Olivier-award winning director Sean Foley’s stellar career has included co-writing the Kenneth Branagh-directed play, The Play What I Wrote, which was a hit in the early Noughties. More recently, he adapted the 1951 film The Man in the White Suit for stage, which transferred from the Theatre Royal, Bath to the Wyndham’s Theatre in 2019 and starred Stephen Mangan. In 2023 Foley directed Simon Nye’s The Crown Jewels, which starred Al Murray.
Foley added: “Steve has excelled [at] being able to make people belly laugh even while they wince - sensing the maladroit, the madness, and the menace in his extraordinary characters… I can think of no better actor to convey the ‘nightmare comedy’ of Strangelove.”
How do I get tickets?
General sale tickets will go on sale on September 27 at 10am and can be found here.
