I just received this information about the National Theatre's stage adaptation of His Dark Materials. I think this article covers nearly every aspect of the stage adaptation.
It also mentions the newest His Dark Materials related book: The Art of Darkness, by Robert Butler
Read the whole article below
Nicholas Hytner directs the world premiere of His Dark Materials, based on the novels by Philip Pullman, adapted by Nicholas Wright into two plays.
They preview in the Olivier from 4 December, with press performances on 20 December, and will run until March 2004. The cast is led by Dominic Cooper as Will, Niamh Cusack as Serafina Pekkala, Timothy Dalton as Lord Asriel, Patricia Hodge as Mrs Coulter and Anna Maxwell Martin as Lyra, and also includes Samuel Barnett, John Carlisle, Patrick Godfrey, Stephen Greif, Jamie Harding, Akbar Khurta, Inika Leigh Wright, Helen Lymbery, Tim McMullan, Helen Murton, Cecilia Noble, Nick Sampson, Danny Sapani, Jason Thorpe, Russell Tovey, Ben Whishaw, Ben Wright and Richard Youman.
There are as many worlds as there are possibilities. I toss a coin. It comes down heads. But in another world, it comes down tails. Every time that a choice is made, or a chance is missed, or a fork in a road is taken ... a world is born for each of the other things that might have happened. And there, they do.
HIS DARK MATERIALS takes us on a thrilling journey through worlds familiar and unknown. For Lyra and Will, its two central characters, it's a coming of age and a transforming spiritual experience. Their great quest demands a savage struggle against the most dangerous of enemies. They encounter fantastical creatures in parallel worlds - rebellious angels, soul-eating spectres, child-catching Gobblers and the armoured bears and witch-clans of the Arctic. Finally, before reaching, perhaps, the republic of heaven, they must visit the land of the dead.
This will be an epic production both in its narrative scope and its staging, involving artists from new technologies as well as old. His Dark Materials is one of the National's most ambitious projects, and aims to create an experience as meaningful for 12 year olds as for adults. Parts I and II can be seen on separate dates, or on the same day in a double-bill.
Dominic Cooper's stage work includes Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the RSC, Caryl Churchill Events at the Royal Court and Mother Clap's Molly House at the National. Television and film credits include Band of Brothers, From Hell and Boudica.
Niamh Cusack makes her debut at the National. Her stage work includes Merchant of Venice at Chichester Festival Theatre and Romeo And Juliet, Othello and As You Like It at the RSC. Television credits include Too Good To Be True, State of Mind, Trust, and Heartbeat.
Timothy Dalton makes his debut at the National Theatre, his stage work includes Romeo and Juliet, Henry V, Henry IV, Love's Labour's Lost . Anthony and Cleapatra, Taming of the Shrew and most recently at the Young Vic and in the West End A Touch of the Poet. His extensive film and television work includes Licence to Kill, Agatha, Hawks, The Living Daylights, Scarlett, Framed, The Informant and Lie Down with Lions.
Patricia Hodge returns to the National where she was last seen in Noises Off and Summerfolk and A Little Night Music. Her West End work includes Noel and Gertie, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Benefactors, and Separate Tables. Her many television and films include A Girl of Slender Means, Rumpole of the Bailey, Jemima Shore Investigates, Hotel du Lac, The Lives and Loves of a She Devil and Sweet Medicine.
Anna Maxwell Martin's work at the National includes Irina inThree Sisters (now in the Lyttelton), Honour and The Coast of Utopia. Other theatre credits include Little Foxes at the Donmar; films include The Hours.
Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy comprises Northern Lights (winner of the Carnegie Medal, Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and Children's Book of the Year at the British Book awards), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass (WHSmith Children's Book of the Year and both Whitbread Children's Book of the Year and Whitbread Book of the Year - the first children's book to win the main prize in the award's history).
Nicholas Wright's version of Chekhov's Three Sisters is playing in the Lyttelton until October; his Olivier award-winning play Vincent in Brixton, which opened at the Cottesloe, returned to the West End for a second engagement after receiving a Tony nomination on Broadway and will tour this autumn. His other original plays include Cressida, Mrs Klein and The Desert Air; his many adaptations include Wedekind's Lulu, Pirandello's Naked and Six Characters in Search of an Author, and Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman.
Nicholas Hytner became Director of the National in April 2003. His previous NT productions include Henry V, The Wind in the Willows, The Madness of George III, Carousel, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Winter's Tale and Mother Clap's Molly House. His films include The Madness of King George and The Crucible.
Set designs are by Giles Cadle, costumes by Jon Morrell, puppets by Michael Curry, lighting by Paule Constable, choreography by Aletta Collins (also associate director), music by Jonathan Dove, fights by Terry King and sound by Paul Groothuis.
In The Art of Darkness: Staging the Philip Pullman Trilogy, Robert Butler will follow those involved in this adventure over the six months leading to the first performance. The book will be available in early January 2004, published by NT Publications in association with Oberon Books.
Press performances: Saturday 20 December
His Dark Materials Part I at 2.00pm, Part II at 7.00pm
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