Armando Iannucci and Sean Foley have adapted Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 apocalypse movie with an understandable reverence. While their own credentials are impeccable, the reputation of the film weighs heavily on this move to the stage and the result is disappointing. Of course, it’s funny – this is Iannucci and Foley – but it follows the original too closely and works primarily as a vehicle for its star, Steve Coogan.
A comedy great himself, Coogan takes on four roles in the show – that’s one more than Peter Sellers in the film, if you’re counting (and I think people are). Coogan’s performance delivers. It is impressive… and it is very obviously designed to be. Debate your favourite of the quartet (it’s the German accent for me) and note that, while Coogan goes all out for the titular scientist, he shows he can be restrained too. His President Muffley feels, well, presidential.
There are some strong performers accompanying Coogan – Giles Terera and John Hopkins to name but two. The whole ensemble can get laughs out of some pretty old gags. But we’re never allowed to question Coogan’s dominance. For his fans, that’s fine but it doesn’t make for a great play. No matter how quick the costume changes (and the dressers deserve applause), they still take up time. Foley also directs, and the scene changes are, frankly, unimaginative.
Surely these moments would have been an easy time to do something new, to make a break with the source material and surprise us. But if Coogan isn’t on stage, this adaptation isn’t interested. And the show ends up stuck in the 1960s, which feels like a missed opportunity. It’s not that the jokes are bad, but they are predictable and far from biting. The strategy is farce rather than satire, and a show about the end of the world ends up silly when it should also be, just a little, scary.
Until 25 January 2025
Photos by Manuel Harlan