A Little Life

Only occasionally does theatre actually change the way I feel about myself....this did

Expect Emotional Showdown. Moving story

It’s not often I cry at the theatre. It takes a lot. But at this play “A little life”, I held my breath. I couldn’t watch or bear to look but I was compelled to by the startling honesty of the performances by this premiere cast. JAMES NORTON LUKE THOMPSON OMARI DOUGLAS ZACH WYATT ELLIOT COWAN ZUBIN VARLA NATHALIE ARMIN EMILIO DOORGASINGH “A little life” (directed by Ivo van Hove and based on the novel by Hanya Yanagihara) tells of four men, aspiring in their late 20’s early 30’s to make something of their lives and of their friendships. At the centre of the story is a vulnerable and sick Jude. Physically sick but emotionally tortured from his abusive childhood. The play nor the direction leave the audience in any doubt of the brutality of sexual, physical and mental abuse. There is much darkness and much shocking candid delivery of the harrowing nature of it all. A lot of blood, a lot of nudity, a lot of grave and sickening scenes of sexual assault and self harm. A lot of scenes so traumatising that you almost want to shout out for it to stop. The fact that you can’t intentionally makes you feel guilty. It becomes clear why Jude, so deeply loved by his friends, doctor and adoptive father, can’t feel nor recognise what love is. It’s tender and moving to watch him find moments of it in his relationships but terrifying to watch him hurt himself (and be tortured by many adult men) when the demons from the past haunt him again. James Norton sings Mahler like it’s a childhood nursery rhyme ..a theme tune of his life. I am lost to the world With which I used to waste much time; It has for so long known nothing of me, It may well believe that I am dead. Nor am I at all concerned If it should think that I am dead. Nor can I deny it, For truly I am dead to the world. I am dead to the world’s tumult And rest in a quiet realm! I live alone in my heaven, In my love, in my song! There were many scenes where, in the full house at the Savoy, the audience cried out or gasped audibly. Jude’s journey is like a parable or a morality tale we are all responsible for allowing to unfold. There’s an onstage audience watching his every attempt to hurt or suicide with scenes from New York racing faster as his harming gets close. Kindness. That’s the message. That we don’t know the suffering of other people so we must try to extend kindness. James Norton was devastatingly fragile in his depiction of the tortured Jude. The rest of the cast were so naturalistic and compelling I forgot that it was a play several times and not an improvisation. Superlative acting..a Masterclass. Every single character was rivetingly depicted. Go see it at the Savoy. There are moments of levity..not many. But there are. I cried all the way home at the capacity man has to break another and to love another. 3 hours and 40 mins I will never forget. Worthy of a full house leaping to their feet at the close.

An amazingly intense emotional performance, superb acting from a great cast. The length of the show was not an issue at all as I was captivated throughout by the quality of this production.

I’m a regular theatre goer and also a James Norton fan i fact he is my favourite actor which is why I booked the tickets . However the darkness of the play was very disturbing and I felt too much .Although I had read a bit about the play I was not prepared for the extent of the shocking scenes . Not being gay I found the sex hard to watch and my husband did not return for the second half . However I appreciated that the acting was amazing to play these parts especially James Norton . Hold not really recommend it too many .

Book portrayed brilliantly into this play

GO to this show

Fantastic performance. Serious subject.

A Little Life is a hard watch due to subject matter but absolutely amazing in terms of theatre performances and experience! It is a long play but I was gripped the whole time. I would describe it as heartbreakingly compelling.

I thoroughly enjoyed this production due to the masterclass in acting given by James Norton ably supported by the rest of the cast especially Luke Thompson. Although long and emotionally draining, I was totally absorbed in the story and the performance flew by. Not for everyone, it was nevertheless a realistic portrayal of abuse and its long term effects.

If you have read the book you may have wondered how it could transfer into a stage play. The performances are excellent but some of the detail of the novel has been last in the edit. Nevertheless it works as a play although much of it is difficult to watch. Audience members were late and others couldn’t last the long first act without going to the toilet which was disruptive given the nature of the production.