'Hunger Games' to be adapted into stage play in 2024
Hunger Games fans are about to witness the iconic deadly games once more, as a new adaptation of the best-selling books is in the works. This time, it's all happening on the theater stage.
The young adult dystopian series is going to have its first-ever stage play that will make its debut in London next year, according to a report by Variety. The live theatrical production will be adapted by theater director Matthew Dunster and playwright Conor McPherson and will focus its story on the very first book of the trilogy.
This will be when protagonist Katniss Everdeen volunteers herself in place of her younger sister to take part in a televised battle royale death match called The Hunger Games.
Author Suzanne Collins has expressed her enthusiasm at getting her book adapted for the theater, following its successful four-part film versions.
"I’m very excited to be collaborating with the amazing team of Conor McPherson and Matthew Dunster as they bring their dynamic and innovative interpretation of The Hunger Games to the London stage," Collins wrote in a statement.
McPherson was meanwhile elated at having the chance to bring to life Katniss' "gripping tale of courage, defiance, and the unbreakable human spirit" to the stage.
"In a world where the truth itself seems increasingly up for grabs, The Hunger Games beautifully expresses values of resilience, self-reliance, and independent moral inquiry for younger people especially," he said.
"This is turbo-charged storytelling of the highest order and I’m hugely excited to bring it to a new generation of theatre goers and to Suzanne Collins’ longstanding and devoted fans," he added.
Dunster similarly echoed McPherson's excitement, sharing that he fell in love with the "brutal and emotional power" of the books.
"This is theatre. It’s The Hunger Games in the theatre. And with the world-class team we have put together, we aim to do something that is fully immersed in the novel and the film but is uniquely, thrillingly theatrical," he said.
Apart from the upcoming play, Hunger Games fans are also treated to a film version of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which is a prequel to the original trilogy that will premiere on Nov. 17.
It focuses on a young Coriolanus Snow, the future tyrant of Panem. However, in this story, Snow isn't evil (yet), but is an 18-year-old mentor to Lucy Gray Baird, a tribute from an impoverished District 12 at the 10th celebration of the Hunger Games.