His Dark Materials
Award-winning epic is brought to life at The Lowry…
Based on the trilogy of novels by Philip Pullman
Adapted by Nicholas Wright
Directed by Rachel Kavanaugh & Sarah Esdaile
The Lowry, Thu 23 – Sun 26 April 2009
Press Nights: Thu 23 April, 7.30pm – Part 1
Fri 24 April, 7.30pm – Part 2
Syndicated interview is available with Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman’s award-winning epic fantasy, His Dark Materials, is brought to life at The Lowry from Thu 23 April in a major new production. The riveting story has been adapted for the stage into two plays by Nicholas Wright and will be directed by Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s Artistic Director Rachel Kavanaugh.
The Lowry has assembled a Youth Ensemble to play the roles of children in the Salford performances. Eight local young actors were selected during auditions at The Lowry by Guy Hargreaves, freelance director and drama workshop leader for National Youth Theatre and The Lowry. 20 year old Robyn Mather from Crewe is thrilled to have the opportunity to perform with Birmingham Repertory Theatre, “I decided to audition for His Dark Materials because I wanted to be a part of this special production. I want the experience of bringing this magical story to the stage and find out more about the industry from those working in it.”
Pullman’s magical story unfolds in a world where young girl Lyra lives in an Oxford very like our own, but strangely different, with people’s souls brought to life as animal companions known as daemons. Leading the cast as Lyra will be Amy McAllister and Nick Barber as Will.
Rachel Kavanaugh explains that staging the epic story has been a complex and exciting challenge, “The biggest challenge was to compress Philip Pullman’s story into two parts without losing any of the vast scale and sense of adventure. The Daemons, armoured bears and all the other fantastic creatures are created by Blind Summit, a vibrant company who integrate puppetry into the production in terms of story and design.”
Posted on Monday, 30 March 2009 under Press Theatre Press