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Story by Jack Foley
ANIMATED favourite, Shrek, could
be taking a bow on the West End stage, if ambitious plans by theatre
supremo, Sam Mendes, are fully realised.
The acclaimed director, who last year stepped down as artistic
director of the Donmar Warehouse, unveiled plans for the world
premiere of the film favourite, along with 12 other theatrical
productions his new company, Scamp Film and Theatre, is working
on.
A creative team is currently in the process of being assembled
to bring the story of the loveable green ogre, who falls for a
princess, to the stage.
While it is not yet confirmed how many of the productions will
be directed by Mendes himself, it is anticipated that each of
the performances will bear all the quality hallmarks associated
with the director’s usual standard of work.
Another highlight of the proposals is a film adaptation of Stephen
Sondheim’s musical, Fleet Street: Sweeney Todd, about
the demonic barber, while acclaimed director, Ed Hall, is to bring
the first major revival of the Evening Standard Theatre Award
Best Play (1985), Pravda, back to the London stage.
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First off the blocks, however, will be the UK premiere of David
Lindsay-Abaire's off-Broadway hit, Fuddy Meers, an anarchic
comedy tracing 24-hours in the life of an amnesiac, Claire. Angus
Jackson will direct Julia Mackenzie and the production will debut
in Birmingham, from April 16 to May 8, ahead of its expected transfer
to the West End.
As part of the ambitious series, Paul Abbott, the acclaimed writer
of State of Play, will move into film with The Kite
Runner, the story of two childhood friends, as they grow up
in war-torn Afghanistan, which is based on the novel by Khaled
Hosseini.
Other films in development by Mendes' company include Tom
Fool, a thriller about a 17th Century court jester; The
Black Hotel, a romance, and Lifestory, a new film based
on the BBC's docu-drama of the same name, following Watson and
Crick's race to discover the structure of DNA.
There are also plans for an updated revival of JP Miller's Days
of Wine and Roses, a disturbing portrayal of one couple's
hopeless alcoholism, originally penned by prize-winning writer,
Owen McCafferty, as well as a stage adaptation of the classic
film, To Be Or Not To Be, which is being penned by Nick
Whitby, and a new production of Macbeth, by the hotly-tipped Katie
Mitchell.
There will be a British premiere of Anna In The Tropics,
Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, and a new play by the
screenwriter of I Capture
The Castle, Heidi Thomas, which will follow the Russian royal
family's final three months in captivity.
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