Ash Rizi, soon appearing in George Richmond-Scott’s modern day reimagining of Blood Wedding, cast as the rash and hot-tempered Leo, gives Omnibus Theatre the lowdown on his top 5 stage adaptations.
“The best adaptations I’ve seen have been bold, experimental and unflinching in moving away from – whilst often respecting – the original work.”
So, in no particular order→
The Master Builder
Henrik Ibsen/David Hare, The Old Vic
Ralph Fiennes gave an acting masterclass, David Hare’s adaptation was a masterpiece. With ‘master’ prefixes duly milked, what remains to be said? Fiennes was electric, his performance a note-perfect depiction of the architect caged inside his own design, the production as hypnotic as the swing on which Sarah Snook’s Hilde shrieked with ecstasy at the play’s denouement.
The Maids
Jean Genet/Jamie Lloyd, Trafalgar Studios
Jean Genet was largely unknown to me before seeing the play – I read The Maids thereafter – but knew the premise: two maids plot to kill their white employer. Where Jamie Lloyd’s adaptation succeeded superbly was in addressing the issue of race by making the maids black and the mistress white, the three-hander a stunning presentation of racial tensions, servitude and rebellion.
Hamlet
Simon Godwin, RSC/Hackney Empire
I found the RSC’s history-making adaptation mesmerising. At long last we were given a black Hamlet (Paapa Essiedu), in what was largely a black cast, with the narrative taken out of Denmark. The apparent objective of many companies producing Shakespeare plays in recent years has been one of inclusivity and outreach; if one effort can be singled out as achieving this – showing the classics can be presented to a variety of people and places – it was Simon Godwin’s modernisation.
American Psycho
Brett Easton Ellis/Rupert Goold & Duncan Sheik, Almeida
As a huge fan of the novel (which I think is wildly underrated, satirically) and the better-known film, I had no idea what to expect from Goold’s production with Matt Smith. When I heard it was a musical, I had high hopes. I wasn’t disappointed. Music has that peculiar ability to make the most extreme human behaviour funny, charming and gut-wrenching, often in one show. American Psycho, and Smith’s turn as Bateman encapsulated 1980’s excess. Bizarre, catchy and funny.
The Tempest
William Shakespeare/Phyllida Lloyd, Donmar Warehouse: King’s Cross
Phyllida Lloyd’s adaptation was remarkable not just for the performances – in turn comedic, arresting and powerful – but for incorporating astonishing diversity across the entire landscape of the play. The production melded past and present, employing a frame narrative – staged in a modern prison and on the island – to ground the play in a contemporary setting.
Even the temporary venue for the Donmar, at King’s Cross, was a brilliant touch. With the stage enclosed on four sides by the audience, it was impossible to resist the pressing feeling that we were complicit in the narrative.
BLOOD WEDDING opens at Omnibus Theatre on 4th Sept, running until 23rd Sept – get your tickets HERE→
