What to expect from 'The Hunger Games' on stage

Learn all about how the iconic momemnts in Suzanne Collins's best-selling novel will be translated into thrilling theatre.

Summary

• The new 'Hunger Games' stage show is based on the first novel in Suzanne Collins's book series
• Key moments will include the story's passionate love triangle and the vivid locations
• We will also see Katniss's archery prowess and fighting to the death

The world will be watching! Prepare for an epic battle as Katniss Everdeen and her trusty bow take to the stage at the new purpose-built, state-of-the-art Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre. Suzanne Collins’s smash-hit book series has already been dramatised for the big screen, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Stanley Tucci, Liam Hemsworth, and more, but now you can watch the Games play out live.

Adapted by acclaimed playwright Conor McPherson and directed by Matthew Dunster, this spectacular production is the first time that The Hunger Games has ever come to the stage. Director Matthew Dunster explained: “We want to bring audiences something as impactful and edgy as Suzanne Collins’s novel and as passionate and exciting as the movie. But we are going to do it in our own way – in the theatre. We want our Hunger Games to be uniquely, thrillingly theatrical.” Collins added: “Matthew’s immersive, dynamic staging gives the audience a brand-new way to experience the story.”

Read on as we speculate on how everything from the massive arena to the epic love triangle will be dramatised in this must-see theatrical event.

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Spoilers follow for The Hunger Games

Katniss volunteers as tribute

This is one of the most iconic moments in the story. Teenager Katniss Everdeen has been largely responsible for her younger sister Prim since their father died and their mother had a breakdown. So when Prim is selected as a District 12 tribute, meaning she has to fight in the Hunger Games, our heroine Katniss volunteers to take her place.

This will be an electrifying, emotional scene when the actors play it out in the stage show, as we can see how everyone responds in this one defining moment: from Katniss’s resolve, tinged with fear, to Prim and their mother’s horror, and the watching crowd both aghast and impressed.

From District 12 to the Capitol

There are vividly different locations in the story. We begin in the grimy, poor District 12, and move via a luxurious high-speed train to the Capitol – which is basically the polar opposite, a sleek metropolis for the nation’s elites, full of colourful skyscrapers, outlandishly dressed people and decadent feasts, all of which astonishes Katniss.

That will be brought to life by set designer Miriam Buether, as will the all-important arena for the Hunger Games itself. In the first book, it features forests, caves and ponds, and a huge cornucopia. That could be done with scenery and props or perhaps with video.

The famous love triangle

The Hunger Games is about fighting, yes, but it’s also about a tortured love triangle that readers have very firm opinions on. Katniss’s early crush is District 12 friend Gale Hawthorne, who taught her to hunt and trap so she could support her family – skills that come in very handy in the arena. But there’s also Peeta Mellark, her fellow District 12 tribute, who has useful talents too, from painting/camouflage to cannily charming the Games viewers.

Katniss develops feelings for them both, even though her romance with Peeta is initially just for show. That transition from playacting to real affection sits perfectly in an intimate theatrical format, and the show’s cast – Mia Carragher, Euan Garrett and Tristan Waterson – have some meaty dramatic material here as their characters balance love with survival.

The girl on fire

Tributes from District 12 historically wore dull outfits in their entrance, since their region represented coal mining. But, thanks to stylist Cinna, Katniss and Peeta make a memorable entrance wearing capes set on fire. Flames become a signature for rebel Katniss – and it should be a spectacular to see live on stage.

It’s a fun challenge for the show’s costume designer Moi Tran, who will also be conjuring up the flamboyant denizens of the Capitol, from Katniss and Peeta’s chaperone Effie Trinket to the Games’ shape-shifting host and commentator, Caesar Flickerman.

Katniss hits the target

Mia Carragher, who stars as Katniss, will doubtless have been spending a lot of her rehearsal time working on her aim. Katniss is a brilliant archer in the books, and she makes quite the impression on the Gamemakers in a private session where they evaluate her skills and give her an all-important score. Furious when the Gamemakers get distracted by a roast pig, Katniss shoots an arrow directly through the apple in the pig’s mouth.

Katniss’s archery is also key to her performance in the treacherous Games, including a big explosive set-piece in which she shoots a mine in order to blow up the other tributes’ store of food – making the contest more of a level playing field. That’s a big special effect for the stage show, and one where illusionist Chris Fisher’s talents might come into play.

Animal magic

Fisher might also be called upon to conjure up the Games’s various animals and insects, all key to the story. When Katniss is trapped in a tree, with other tributes waiting below to kill her, she cleverly cuts down a nest of “tracker jackers” (genetically modified wasps) to sting them.

Katniss and Peeta also encounter terrifying genetically modified wolves in the arena during the book’s thrilling climax. Presumably we won’t have an actual swarm or beasts in the show, so will this involve sound or lighting effects, or perhaps video?

Fighting to the death

This is a key aspect to the Hunger Games story, and to the stage show. The cast are all being trained by fight director Kev McCurdy so that we believe in those savage showdowns in the arena as Katniss and Peeta battle the other tributes, mostly in desperate hand-to-hand combat.

The show also lists performer flying by Suspended Illusions, suggesting it will feature some death-defying stunts too. Katniss is particularly agile at climbing very tall trees, so expect some jaw-dropping aerial action in this spectacular production.

Main image credit: Mia Carragher (photo by Seamus Ryan). Inset: The Hunger Games artwork, The Hunger Games cast (photos courtesy of the production)