BAZ BAMIGBOYE: A Fiennes way to deal with Covid! Ralph set to portray David Hare in a one-man show about how the playwright coped with coronavirus
Ralph Fiennes is set to portray playwright David Hare in a one-man play about how the acclaimed dramatist coped with the Covid-19 virus.
Hare has detailed his experience with the disease in a play called Beat The Devil, which the Bridge Theatre is hoping to stage for two weeks from late August as part of a season of monologues to include a selection based on the Alan Bennett Talking Heads series shown on BBC television in June; plus new work from three black writers. The season has yet to be confirmed.
Hare told of his battle with the virus during an interview on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, which was broadcast back in April.
Ralph Fiennes is set to portray playwright David Hare (both pictured) in a one-man play about how the acclaimed dramatist coped with the Covid-19 virus
On Wednesday he told friends that ‘the disease was absolutely horrible, but the recovery was heaven’ — because he did everything right. Apparently Hare had asked what exercise he should take to aid his recovery.
He was told to take none whatsoever and to ‘let it mend on its own’. The playwright has publicly condemned the Government’s actions in tackling the spread of the disease, and his scathing appraisal will be in his play.
The show will also express Hare’s concern that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was not able to recover properly from his own serious illness after catching the disease. ‘He still looks ill!’ Hare said.
Beat The Devil will be directed by Nicholas Hytner at The Bridge. Fiennes will also be signing on to star in another play by Hare next year, called Straight Line Crazy, about an architect.
Fiennes will also be signing on to star in another play by Hare next year, called Straight Line Crazy, about an architect
Bennett’s Talking Heads were a hit on the small screen. The company of actors included Jodie Comer, Monica Dolan, Martin Freeman, Tamsin Greig, Sarah Lancashire, Lesley Manville, Lucian Msamati, Maxine Peake, Rochenda Sandall, Kristin Scott Thomas, Imelda Staunton and Harriet Walter.
However, due to the availability of cast and directors, it has not yet been determined who will reprise their television performances at The Bridge.
An Evening With An Immigrant, by Inua Ellams, who wrote Barbershop Chronicles; Yolanda Mercy’s Quarter Life Crisis and Zodwa Nyoni’s Nine Lives, will also form part of The Bridge monologue project.
Once the shows get the green light they will be performed using self-distancing protocols backstage and in the auditorium.
On-stage should pose no difficulties, with an actor or writer alone on the boards.