‘Electrifying experience’: stage version of The Hunger Games to open in new London theatre

Conor McPherson’s adaptation of the hit YA sci-fi novels and films – which starred Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen – will begin in October, having been delayed since last year. A new theatre in London’s Canary Wharf will open with the delayed world premiere of The Hunger Games, based on Suzanne Collins’ bestselling 2008 novel and the hit 2012 film version.

Irish playwright Conor McPherson’s adaptation of the dystopian adventure, which follows teenagers fighting to the death in a televised spectacle, will begin previews on 20 October. The purpose-built, 1,200-seat Troubadour Canary Wharf theatre is operated by the company behind the venue for the successful Starlight Express reboot in Wembley Park, where singing roller-skaters whiz among the audience. The Hunger Games has been similarly designed to place theatregoers amid the action.

Tristan Baker and Oliver Royds, joint CEOs and founders of Troubadour Theatres, said the show would offer “a transportive, electrifying experience that fully captures the scale, intensity and spectacle of Suzanne Collins’ world. Every element – from the staging to the technology – has been tailored to transport audiences right into the heart of the Games like never before.”.

When McPherson was announced as the adapter in October 2023, the production was scheduled to open in London in autumn 2024. A theatrical version of The Hunger Games, promising “innovative and immersive staging techniques”, had first been heralded by the film studio Lionsgate 10 years previously.

McPherson said it had been “a great pleasure to watch the theatrical language of this show evolving through explosive workshops”. Director Matthew Dunster and choreographer Charlotte Broom, who have previously worked together at Shakespeare’s Globe and Regent’s Park Open Air theatre, are collaborating on what should be a highly physical production. The set will be designed by Miriam Buether, whose recent credits include Stranger Things: The First Shadow in the West End.

Collins said that the play’s “dynamic staging gives the audience a brand-new way to experience the story”. Dunster called McPherson’s adaptation “taut and dangerous” and added that it “honours the young voice of Katniss Everdeen”, the rebellious character played on screen by Jennifer Lawrence.

“As a dad to a teenager myself,” said McPherson, “it is especially gratifying working on a story whose values of resilience and moral courage speak to young people in these uncertain times.” Tickets for The Hunger Games: On Stage will go on sale on 27 March.