A cracking new code
Dan Brown’s hit novel The Da Vinci Code has been adapted for the stage for the first time. JEFFREY DAVIES chats to stars Nigel Harman and Danny John-jules about bringing the bestseller to theatres as it heads to Bath.
THE first ever stage adaptation of Dan Brown’s best-selling thriller The Da Vinci Code comes to the West Country next week. Directed by Luke Sheppard, the world premiere production stars Nigel Harman as Robert Langdon, Danny John-jules as Sir Leigh Teabing and Hannah Rose Caton as Sophie Neveu.
Dan Brown’s epic thriller has been read by millions worldwide, and seen by millions globally on the big screen.
The curator of the Louvre has been brutally murdered, and alongside his body are a series of baffling codes. There’s a pulse-racing journey as Professor Robert Langdon and fellow cryptologist Sophie Neveu attempt to solve the riddles, leading to the works of Leonardo Da Vinci and beyond, deep into the vault of history. In a breathless race through the streets of Europe, the pair must decipher the labyrinthine code before a shocking historical secret is lost forever.
Author Dan Brown said: “I am thrilled that The Da Vinci Code is being adapted for the stage, and excited to see the unique potential of live theatre enhance this story.
“The team making the production has been faithful to the book, but will also bring something new for the audience, in what is certain to be a gripping, fast-paced stage thriller and a thoroughly entertaining show.”
How would Nigel Harman sum up Professor Robert Langdon as he is portrayed in this stage version of The Da Vinci Code?
“He’s the Harvard professor we all know and love,” Londonborn Nigel replied. “He’s one of the smartest people in the room. What’s wonderful about the play is that he’s also a little inept in some areas, such as when he’s handling his gun and when
he makes silly mistakes about the most obvious stuff while also solving the most complex matters like equations and Newton’s Theory of Gravity.
“So he’s very human in our play. There’s moments where he’s vulnerable. He loses his temper at one point because he’s frustrated. That’s the joy of the play – it fleshes out our main characters more than I’d say has been done before. That’s what drew me to it.”
Can Nigel relate to his Robert Langdon in any way?
“You know when you get completely focused on something that you really love, a passion of yours, and the world becomes really quiet because you’re just doing that one thing? Well, I relate to that aspect of him; when there’s something to solve or something to think about or a puzzle to put together. That’s where Langdon comes into his own.
“I think there are moments in my life like that when I’m really focusing on a project I’m doing. You have those moments where you have utter calm and just focus on that one thing. I share that and I like it when it happens. It doesn’t happen all the time because we’re all trying to juggle so many balls but, when there’s only one ball, it’s brilliant.”
Does the role present any challenges?
“The challenge with this one is staying as present as possible. Every night the story unfolds in front of me. As Langdon, I turn up in Paris to give a lecture and suddenly I’m contacted by the police and taken to the Louvre. The next 24 hours are a rollercoaster ride. The challenge is not to pre-empt what’s coming, not even to think about what the next scene is, but to
just stay in the moment because each clue leads to the next step. If I get ahead of myself then it loses its magic.”
Did Nigel do any research or was he just going by the script?
“The research I’ve done is quite simple because, like I said, it’s about staying present and not learning too much because then I can be surprised as I’m playing it,” Nigel answered. “I did read the book, which I’d never done before; I’m one of the few people who hadn’t read it. I sat there and read it out loud to myself in an American accent so I was learning about the more fleshedout version of the story while practising my accent at the same time. I really enjoyed the book so it was an absolute pleasure.”
Has Nigel seen the film version?
“I have seen it before and the last thing I wanted to do was not have the mullet. That was a key character decision there!” he laughed.
“But the stage version is very different. It moves as fast and it’s just as complex but we’ve got an extraordinary visual landscape with all sorts of projections and gauzes. We’re telling this story through a visual medium and we’ve got what I would describe as a banging soundtrack. We’ve got this energy that is propelled throughout the play and it’s underscored so you get a real sense of time, tempo and all that sort of stuff.
“If you like the book and you like the film, definitely come along and see the play because you’ll get another layer. I think that’s really clever about what Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel [the writers] and Luke Sheppard [the director] have done with it.”
Why does The Da Vinci Code continue to fascinate people?
“For one thing there’s the question at the heart of it. Did Jesus have descendants? That’s a brilliant question. Then the
If my hair is cut around the same length as when I played Dennis [in Eastenders] then people get me much quicker. If it’s longer they look at me and go, ‘Do you work at the Sainsbury’s in Cheltenham?’ Nigel Harman
rewriting by men of the church of the female place in society is very prescient and a really good debate to be had. The other thing I love about it is that it’s an Agatha Christie, it’s a thriller, it’s a whodunnit and there’s a baddie – but I won’t tell you who that is if you don’t know the story already.
“On that basic level it’s ‘How are they gonna do it? Are they gonna solve the clues? Who is going to get in their way and what are they going to find?”
Nigel, 48, famously played Dennis Rickman in Eastenders. His other TV work includes Downton Abbey, Miss Marple: The Mirror Crack’d, Hotel Babylon, Lark Rise to Candleford and City of Vice. His theatre credits include Guys and Dolls, Mamma Mia!, Three Days of Rain, Tommy and Shrek – The Musical, for which he won an Olivier Award. He is also no stranger to Bath, having previously appeared at the Theatre Royal in The Pirates of Penzance (1998), The School for Scandal (2012) and Glengarry Glen Ross (2019).
It’s been more than 15 years since Nigel left Eastenders. Do people still recognise him for playing Dennis Rickman in the top soap?
“It’s for a range of things now. But when it comes to Eastenders it depends on the length of my hair. If my hair is cut around the same length as when I played Dennis then people get me much quicker. If it’s longer they look at me and go, ‘Do you work at the Sainsbury’s in Cheltenham?’
“But Eastenders is still very much with me. It’s actually quite sweet because people light up when they talk about it or they remember a storyline and share it with me, when half the time I can’t remember it!” he said.
Joining Nigel on stage is Danny John-jules as Sir Leigh Teabing. How would he describe his latest stage role?
“He’s a huge character who was played by a huge character [Ian Mckellen] in a huge movie based on a huge book. So no pressure,” London-born Danny, 61, laughed.
“I’d describe him as a puppetmaster. You’re not supposed to be able to work him out. He’s one of these eccentric millionaires we’ve seen living in big houses who are pretty much just waiting for someone to come round and visit them.”
Can Danny relate to Sir Leigh in any way?
“Well, in the early days when
you’ve left home, you’re plying your trade and you’re in your house alone grafting away before you settle down etc. That’s something I can relate to; namely being the lonely guy at home, waiting for the next phone call and the next job. The difference with him is he has loads of money and can do whatever he wants but the biggest want in his life is the one thing he can’t get,” Danny explained.
So what appealed to Danny, who is arguably best-known for his role as Cat in Red Dwarf, about the role?
“If you ask anybody who sees the poster for the first time they’ll go, ‘What? Danny John-jules is playing Sir Leigh Teabing?’ But that’s exactly what art is supposed to do – to make you ask questions. Then you look at it and you go, ‘What’s so strange about that?’ You’ve got Sir Garfield Sobers, you’ve got Sir Keith Richards and you’ve got
Sirs out there nobody would bat an eyelid about.”
Does the role present any challenges for Danny?
“With any book that has sold 80 million copies there are many people who already know the story. So there’s a double pressure there. They know the character and they know the story and that to me is the challenge; to bring him to life in my own way.”
Did Danny do any research into this latest role?
“When you first read the script you go ‘Holy mackerel! What does this word even mean?’ I’ve been on how to pronounce. com for ages. It’s all Latin and Biblical. But I already knew some of the stuff. I knew about Emperor Constantine, for instance, because I researched him for a radio play I wrote called Knight Talker, which was based on a lot of things we talk about in The Da Vinci Code.”
This stage adaptation is a new play rather than a revival. Is that exciting for Danny as an actor?
“Absolutely. But then I’m lucky that I’ve never really done what you’d call recurring work like soap operas. Red Dwarf is a sitcom but each season we move the show forward. It doesn’t sit on its laurels and the guys are always pushing the boundaries to see ‘what haven’t we done?’
A celebrated stage and screen actor, Danny admits readily that he enjoys live performance.
“That’s where I started. That’s my thing,” he enthuses. “I’m a song and dance man. I’m an entertainer. And theatre is where my entertainment started. Before cameras there was an audience and as Laurence Olivier used to say, you should always do theatre before you do film and TV because that’s the root of the art.”
Danny has appeared in many film and TV productions across his 40-year career, including in the role of police officer Dwayne Myers in BBC One’s Death in Paradise, a role he reprised in the recent Christmas special. His stage credits include Cats, Barnum, Starlight Express and Carmen Jones.
Danny, Nigel and Hannah will be joined on stage in The Da Vinci Code by cast members Joshua Lacy, Basienka Blake, Alasdair Buchan, Alpha Kargbo, Leigh Lothian, Andrew Lewis and Debra Michaels.