A new comic staging of King Kong, written by Olivier-nominated Potted Potter co-creator and star Daniel Clarkson, will premiere this summer at The Vaults in London, where its limited season will run from 22 June to 27 August 2017.
Ever since Fay Wray first charmed the great gorilla in the original 1933 film, King Kong has been a byword for epic cinema, challenging successive filmmakers to outdo the last with bigger and better special effects to impress and terrify audiences in equal measure.
Now this new comic theatrical staging of the story takes a very different approach, as you’d expect from writer Daniel Clarkson (Potted Potter, Potted Panto, Potted Sherlock) and director Owen Lewis, who between them have three Olivier Award nominations.
With just five actors and no high-tech wizardry, King Kong will come to new life for theatre audiences in the atmospheric surroundings of The Vaults tunnels underneath London’s Waterloo Station.
Follow the intrepid cast as they journey to uncharted waters in search of the Eighth Wonder of the World – a gorilla so enormous he instils fear in all who set eyes on him. As hunter becomes the hunted, our story takes us to the iconic skyline of New York City and one burning question must be answered: just how many bananas should we order in?
Casting is still to be announced. The premiere production is designed by Simon Scullion, with costumes and props by Sophia Simensky, lighting by Tim Mascall and sound by Sam Clarkson.
Daniel Clarkson
Writer Daniel Clarkson commented:
“As a self-confessed cinephile I’m a huge fan of the original 1933 classic King Kong, and have wanted for some time to reimagine it in all its glory as a spoof comedy for the stage. This has proved to be a fantastic challenge, perhaps even trickier than when I crammed all 7 Harry Potter books into 70 minutes for Potted Potter!
“That show has travelled the world including West End and New York runs, and I hope that we can have a similarly exciting future for this production after its humble beginnings this summer at The Vaults. We recently workshopped the script with the incredibly talented director Owen Lewis, and our brilliant cast – based on what we saw there, I think that audiences are in for something really special when we unleash this beast in June!”
