Theatre Review: The Hunger Games

When I saw earlier this year that The Hunger Games was being turned into a stage production, I knew instantly that I wanted to see this. I've read all of the books and seen the films, and so adding the stage production to my list was definitely high up there. I joined the mailing list so I would be informed when tickets were being released, and I watched the teaser trailers of some of the cast in rehearsal. As I watched the actors perform 'fight scenes' and spin in the air on harnesses, and got drawn into the interviews with the director and creative team who said it would be an immersive experience unlike any piece of theatre anyone had ever seen, I was drawn in by the hype and it was the most-anticipated piece of theatre I was looking forward to seeing this year. The fact that a brand new theatre was being custom-built for this production in Canary Wharf just whetted my appetite even more.

I was especially excited knowing that Tom and I were not only going to the opening night of the production, but that it was a preview. We were to be amongst the very first people to ever see this epic tale brought to life on stage!

We received the email the day before the show, announcing that the theatre would open to the audience two hours before the performance time of 7:30pm. Upon arrival, at around 5:50pm, imagine our surprise when we saw that one entrance way was completely blocked, and then discovering a queue forming the other side of the building with barriers stopping us from entering, along with a lot of builders around in hard hats and Hi-Vis PPE. We could hear the drilling in the background and saw seats being carried into the theatre. The theatre wasn't quite ready for an audience!

For over an hour, we queued outside in the cold, the queues forming either side of the building as no one was sure where the correct place was to queue and it seemed different people were being given different information depending on who you asked. Tom and I were determined to make the best of it, and happily chatted to the people behind us and in front of us in the queue, of which both parties had come all the way from the USA especially to see this production!

During this time, no one came out to inform the growing crowds what was going on. We gathered from asking some security guards that things were still being 'finished' and they believed we were queuing in the right place. As it turned out, when they finally started allowing people in over an hour later at around 7:10pm, they were allowing the queue that had formed the other side of the building in first, and so it had turned out we had not been queueing in the right place after all, despite being assured we were. In the end, we were only admitted into the theatre and was able to skip the queue after Tom explained to a member of security that I was over five months pregnant, and the last half-hour was becoming more difficult for me to stand so long outside in the cold.

Finally, I limped into the brand new 'unfinished' Troubadour Theatre. It was clearly unfinished as soon as one stepped inside. The floor was bare wood, there were no working toilets on the ground floor and very minimal seating, a bar to the left which was clearly unoperational and only one staircase that looked more like scaffolding. When we were finally permitted to go upstairs, my first port of call was the toilets, as I really needed to go. Thankfully, these were operational, but had no hand dryers or even paper towels to dry my hands.

Although Tom and I were determined to embrace all of this as part of the adventure, and we were sure that the show would be well worth the lack of communication and incompetent handling of the situation by staff and security, it was disappointing that the production started over an hour late, meaning that several people who had paid good money for a ticket didn't stay for the second Act, just so they could make their trains home. Due to it starting an hour late, the show didn't finish until 11:45pm, which made travel back to our hotel very difficult with most tube stations being shut, which ended up being an exhausting end to our evening, as we didn't get back to our hotel in Paddington until around 1:30am!

However, despite the poor performance (or rather lack of it) from staff and security, this certainly did not extend to the cast of The Hunger Games, who gave stellar performances in this excellent stage production of the dystopian classic by Suzanne Collins. Every single member was expertly cast, from Katniss Everdeen down to her sister Prim.

A special shout-out goes to Mia Carragher in particular, who practically never left the stage, and gave a stellar, convincing performance of the heroine Katniss Everdeen - truly a girl on fire! She caught all of Katniss' passion and determination, as well as her uncertainty and quiet fears which she tried to keep contained. This is a hard balance to convey but it was expertly captured by Mia Carragher, who not only gave a moving performance, but also a physical one! She had a lot of climbing and running to do throughout the play, all whilst in front of a live audience, and despite the physicality I never heard her words falter.

Also well-cast was the role of Peeta Mellark, played by Euan Garrett, who captured the very essence of Peeta from his gentle nature to his quiet strength and rebellion against the Capitol in a very compelling performance. Joshua Lacey gave a solid and believable performance as Haymitch Abernathy, and Tamsin Carroll played Effie Trinket to perfection, both actors providing that little bit of light relief as well as demonstrating their softer sides.

Having John Malkovich play President Snow, alebit projected onto a screen, was an excellent move, and Malkovich gave a chilling performance as Panem's calculating president. His disturbing smile and measured way of speaking gave an edge to this tyrannical ruler which was truly gripping.

I loved how the audience seating was divided into 'Districts', of which Tom and I were part of District One, which was one of the sections of the seating that moved at various intervals throughut the play to give a different perspective of the stage. The only issue with this, was that at certain points throughout the play, when the seating was back in its original position rather than facing the stage full-front, we couldn't see the projected screen or some of the action that happened at the side. For example, there was one conversation the Gamemaker had with Snow where we couldn't see the screen and so could only hear President Snow rather than see him, which was a shame.

As this show has the use of the screens, I would have liked to have seen the projected images of the fallen Tributes with the Capitol Anthem playing, like the book and the film depicts, when Katniss is describing what happens at the end of each day in the arena. A nice touch though, was that when a Tribute fell, the relevant section of the audience lit up in red to demonstrate which Districts had lost a Tribute. I thought this was an excellent and immersive way of totalling up the fallen Tributes.

The stage was used beautifully, with the trapdoors allowing a change of scenery seamlessly and helped to create scenes which should have been almost impossible to create on stage, such as Peeta's camoflauge moment in the arena. I enjoyed the chariot scene, where Peeta and Katniss paraded before us, suspended above the stage with flames shooting out behind; and the scene where Katniss runs from the fire in the arena and is chased by the flames as she climbs the 'tree' was epically done. Due to all the hype, Tom and I were hoping for a few more special effects like this one, as this truly kept us on the edge of our seats. That being said, there were plenty of special effects to wow the audience - just at times some scenes felt like it needed a little something more.

I felt that the fight scene at the Cornucopia at the beginning of the second half could be adapted slightly - the running scene went on for far too long, and needs to be cut, especially as the flashing lights ended up being a bit too much for the senses. I also felt some of the fighting scenes looked a little messy and needed a bit more fight-coordinating to make it look more believable and better choreographed. I understand that this is harder to do in a stage production, but it does just need tweaking slightly. I also didn't feel the scene where Katniss and Peeta are greeted by a host of singing members from the Capitol on their arrival was needed, which would also help to shorten the time.

For the interview scene hosted by Flickerman, brilliantly portrayed by Stavros Demetraki, I loved how Katniss and Peeta came down the stairs from the auditorium, almost making us feel like the Capitol Spectators watching the TV show. Although the actors acted this scene well, and the backing track of the audience laughing at the right moments helped give the illusion that there they were performing to the Capitol audience, both Tom and I felt there was something lacking in this scene which caused it to fall a little flat. Perhaps utilising the actual audience members to shout and cheer in the right places would help build this scene to the right tempo?

I don't like to give away too many spoilers, but the scene where Katniss cuts the nest of the Trackerjackers and they fall onto the sleeping Tributes below was skilfully handled and creatively staged.

I applaud the clever trickery of Katniss' shots with the bow and arrow in each of the scenes where she used it - very masterfully done! And I have no words to describe the heartbreaking moment when Rue was fatally wounded with the spear by one of the other Tributes - my goodness that looked real! I take my hat off to the Creative Team who staged this scene to perfection. This was one of the most emotionally-charged moments, played out beautifully by Mia Carragher (Katniss) and Aiya Agustin (Rue).

The entire cast of The Hunger Games are to be applauded for their impressive performances, each of whom have been perfectly cast in their roles. This stage adaptation requires high-energy action, which every single member gave in abundant measure, and showcased skills which truly dazzled us as the audience.

The Hunger Games is certainly an ambitious story to bring to life on stage, as there are so many different locations to portray, from District 12 to the train journey, from the Capitol to the Arena. It's also an action-packed novel, so it takes a lot of skill to adapt this story for the stage, as there are so many elements to incorporate, which are incredibly challenging in front of a live audience in one space. It truly is monumental what Director Matthew Dunster and Playwright Conor McPherson have managed to achieve, along with the Creative Team, in bringing this dystopian tale to the stage, and they are to be massively applauded.

With this being the preview, this will give the Creative Team time to adapt and polish certain aspects of the show, ready for showcasing to audiences once the preview viewings finish in November. All-in-all, I was impressed with this faithful and immersive retelling of the first Hunger Games novel on stage, from the highly-talented cast to many of the special effects, and would love to see this again in the future.