This article contains affiliate links, PinkNews may earn revenue if you click through and purchase products through the links.Since its publication in 2015, A Little Life, which tells the story of university friends Jude, Malcolm, Willem and JB, and tackles trauma, abuse and suicide, has sold more than a million copies, been shortlisted for the Booker prizez, declared a modern-day classic, and adapted into a four-hour play by the acclaimed director Ivo van Hove. If you’re intrigued, be prepared: the play contains multiple graphic depictions of self-harm, abuse and rape.Ī Little Life is running at Harold Pinter Theatre until 18 June and tickets are available from ATG Tickets. Perhaps fans of the book will be pleased to see the story brought to life by such a talented cast. Like the character of Ana, a sort of shoulder angel payed by Nathalie Armin, it gives you something to anchor yourself to.īut while proficient, there is little, if any enjoyment, to be found here. The staging is minimal the decision to seat some audience members on stage serves as a needed reminder that you’re watching a fiction.

Omari Douglas is magnetic in the very few scenes where JB is given something to do, and Elliot Cowan is chilling as Jude’s trio of abusers. The performances are uniformly strong: as Jude, James Norton brings range and colour to a character whose sole trait is a lifetime of abuse, no easy task. The script cleverly flows from conversation to monologue, unmoored by time or location (the story spans decades, but the actors, set and even costumes remain the same).

It’s certainly an accomplished production. It makes for a much blunter narrative: almost four straight hours of unrelenting misery, without any form of resolution, growth or catharsis (as is also true of the book). In adapting the 800-page book into a single play, writers Koen Tachelet and Ivo Van Hove (who also directs) concentrate almost entirely on Jude’s demons, relegating JB and Malcolm especially. The cast of A Little Life: Zach Wyatt (Malcolm), James Norton (Jude), Omari Douglas (JB) and Luke Thompson (Willem). Here, there’s no escaping how bleak it all is. At least with a book, you can put it down and come back to it once you’ve rebuilt your fortitude. The play, however, has absolutely no light to counter its shade. There’s something compelling about the imperfect bonds between the core four characters – evidenced by the tote-bag-carrying cult that’s sprung up around them. I was on the fence about the book – while it does dwell on the details of Jude’s torment to an uncomfortable degree, it also has some thoughtful meditation on love and friendship.

A little life description