Royal & Derngate’s commission of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day, adapted by Barney Norris, will receive its world premiere in Northampton in February 2019 before a national Out of Joint tour.
Nobel Prize 2017 winner Ishiguro’s masterpiece has entranced generations as a novel and its story of memory, regret and undeclared love is now re-imagined by Norris, one of Britain’s most exciting young writers (Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright for Visitors; Times best-selling novelist) in collaboration with Ishiguro himself.
The Remains of the Day will be directed by Christopher Haydon (Twelve Angry Men, Birmingham Rep and West End), who last year directed Royal & Derngate’s co-production of The Caretaker. The production will be designed by Lily Arnold (Rules for Living, Royal & Derngate). The production can be seen at Royal & Derngate from 23 February to 16 March 2019 before embarking on a national tour.
The fires of the Second World War rage through England. Through the memories of a proud butler, we discover the shocking, morally compromised truth behind the manicured gardens and grand receptions of an English stately home. Years later, faced with a life half-lived, he sets out on a journey to find the friend from his past who might finally offer him redemption.
Barney Norrris said:
“This is a deeply emotional project for me, a chance to work with three companies I care for very much. There have been Norrises living in Northamptonshire as far back as records go, so to work in Northampton and get to share a play with my family there is glorious. To do that while also working with Oxford Playhouse, where I had my first job in the theatre and am still an associate now, and Out of Joint, the company that made me want to work in this trade and where I worked in the office for a couple of years, is a very precious opportunity.”
Director Christopher Haydon added: “The Remains of the Day has been my favourite novel for many years. Barney Norris has exactly the right theatrical understanding and delicate sensibility to turn this engaging and highly political love story into a moving and dynamic piece of theatre. I am thrilled to be working with him on it.”
The Remains of the Day joins a Made in Northampton season that has already included EM Forster’s A Passage to India in collaboration with simple8, Agatha Christie’s Love from a Stranger, now on tour, and the new folk musical The Selfish Giant, adapted by Guy Chambers from the Oscar Wilde children’s story and running at London’s Vaudeville Theatre until this Saturday, 14 April 2018.
In September, Royal & Derngate stages the world premiere of Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones which sees award-winning playwright Bryony Lavery collaborating with director Melly Still.
Joe Simpson’s best-selling memoir, turned BAFTA-winning film, Touching the Void charts his struggle for survival in the Andes in 1985. This has now been adapted for the stage by award-winning writer David Grieg and directed by Tom Morris.
