Theatre’s two-part drama plays to the box set generation
THE advent of binge-watching means we can devour a television drama in the space of a day. Now theatre is getting in on the act.
The National Theatre is to stage My Brilliant Friend, an adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s bestselling novels about two women who grew up together in Naples, spread across two plays and five hours. Audiences will be able to watch the first at a matinee performance, break for an early supper then return at 7.30pm for the second instalment.
It is the latest in a trend for two-parters, providing an immersive experience but also a costly one, as anyone wanting to know how the story ends will need to stump up for both shows.
But they are becoming increasingly popular. The past few years have given us Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, The Inheritance, Imperium, Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies, and a revival of Angels in America, which at nearly eight hours was described by cast member Russell Tovey as feeling “like a 12-hour Zumba class” for the actors who each played multiple roles.
There will be a number of two-show days when audiences can see both parts of My Brilliant Friend together, but there will also be the opportunity to watch them over separate evenings.
Rufus Norris, the National’s artistic director, advised people to see both plays: “Both parts are complete in themselves, but they were written to be seen as a whole story and I think would be most rewarding seen that way,” he said.
Shorter, interval-free plays are also on the rise, including the recent revival of Betrayal starring Tom Hiddleston.
Mark Shenton, associate editor of The Stage newspaper, said: “The relentless rise of the 80 minute/no interval play has been matched by its corollary: the two-part epic that [is] the theatrical equivalent of box set television.”
My Brilliant Friend was first staged at the Rose Theatre in Kingston, southwest London. It stars Niamh Cusack and Catherine McCormack and is adapted by April De Angelis.
‘They were written to be seen as a whole story and I think would be most rewarding seen that way’