The Independent: The highly anticipated stage adaptation of The Hunger Games has been labelled “chaotic” and “messy” by theatregoers after its first preview show on Monday (20 October).
The Hunger Games: On Stage opened at the purpose-built 1,200 seater venue, Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre, with US actor John Malkovich playing the villain, President Snow, on a screen.
6 comments:
A theater being built specifically for a show definitely sparks a lot of questions for me. Since this is something that doesn’t even happen on Broadway, I wonder how they came to this choice. As someone that watched the Hunger Games movies and read the books multiple times, I can see how much of a challenge it would be to translate such an action packed story onto the stage. It's unfortunate that opening night didn’t go well especially since this was so highly anticipated and could have been such a cool concept. Of course I understand opening night hiccups and mistakes, but it's really disappointing how the person in the wheelchair said that they did not prioritize accessibility at all. Since it seemed like the show itself was executed really well, I hope the venue can solve these problems and listen to the public's feedback. This has a lot of potential.
I’ve been following this show at a very surface level throughout its development and was very cautiously optimistic about it. I think there is a very brilliant story within the Hunger Games that has been proven to be very successful with adaptations (I think the books to movies in the Hunger Games franchise are actually some of the best adaptations as a whole even if they aren't perfect) and so I can see its promise as a stage show. It made sense to me that there was a lot of emphasis on fight choreography as the violence is a main factor in the book and storytelling device and without that you lose a lot of the message, though it seemed like it was caring more about spectacle than storytelling. Especially creating a new theater based off that play? Not unheard of but definitely rare. And the lack of accessible seating is truly abhorrent and I hope they adjust that. I think a lot of the issue is how people are talking about it on social media are making it sound like opening versus previews which are heightening other negative feelings that I don’t really agree with. Though it sounds like there are fundamental issues with the book that I hope can be resolved and still many tech and facility things that need to be solved. I wish them the best but it kind of sounds like they should have at least another month to finish the theater and tech and buckle down on rewrites.
As interested as I am to see this show and what it has to offer, from what I am reading it is just unfinished and certain elements need to be re-thought. Most things I can understand are just growing pains of the show, but the accessibility issues are pretty much unacceptable. Though there should be accessibility solutions already, if that is not possible at the time, or for the specific stage that they are using, it should be listed in order to avoid situations like the one they had with the person in the wheelchair. Though of course I completely agree with their comments that in the year 2025, we should have accessibility as a larger thought in our minds when creating new and innovative methods for theater, and bringing these new productions to stage. Unfortunately these tweaks that need to be made lie not in the performance, but in the venue itself, which is extremely disappointing, as the audience should not feel unsafe in their seats.
One of my least favorite things is when shows/spaces open before they are ready especially if the things that are not ready are deemed as “secondary” like accessibility accommodations just because they "need" to. Starting late, while an issue, does not seem like the biggest issue that they ran into. Running late happens (especially when it is because of things out of their control like cast members getting sick), but what is inexcusable is having your audience feel unsafe because you rushed to open before fully making the space presentable. Before reading this article, I thought that my biggest issue with the production would be that it is yet another adaptation that we do not need, but to say you can “accomodate” a wheelchair user while putting them in a space that they can’t see anything is a jerk move because you know they will brag about being accessible and not see any issue with that. If you are going to be accessible, you need to actually be accessible and have those who need the accessibility be able to have virtually the same experience as those who do not need it.
Emma L
Yikes! After reading this article my first impression is Yikes. One of the biggest things I learned working professionally is any incompleteness presented to the audience will reflect on stage even if the stage is done. The theatre has to feel safe, welcoming and like an environment where people want to be vulnerable. A preview is almost more important because that is the audience's first impression on what is being shown and word of mouth will get around. It also makes me worried about how this theatre will perform with other shows? Will it have the right equipment needed for a modern show? From reading the article and thinking about it; it looks like the team was excited to offer this new show and experience that they forgot the key aspects of House Management. Provide the audience with a space to hang out before the show lets them feel welcomed into the theatre. Having the space feel complete and ready for viewing is key. Because audience members want a sense of whimsy when going to the theatre and if the building is lacking details the facade of it all falls away.
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