Vivienne Acheampong, Mark Edel-Hunt, Chris New and Jack Tarlton will star in the first stage adaptation of a Paul Auster novel in the UK, City Of Glass, a brand new production by Tony Award-winning 59 Productions in a co-production with HOME, Manchester (4-18 March) and Lyric Hammersmith (20 April – 13 May).
In 2017, as Auster turns 70 and The New York Trilogy, his first work of prose fiction marks three decades in publication, the first part of this celebrated trilogy which has captivated the imaginations of readers across the world will be staged in Manchester and London ahead of its international tour. City Of Glass will be brought vividly to life in a dazzlingly original stage adaptation by 59 Productions (An American In Paris, War Horse, David Bowie Is) and Olivier Award-nominated playwright Duncan Macmillan (Every Brilliant Thing, 1984, People, Places and Things).
Mark Edel-Hunt (Red Velvet) and Chris New (Max In Bent) will play Daniel Quinn, the reclusive crime writer who unwittingly becomes the protagonist in a real-life thriller of his own after receiving a mysterious phone call in the middle of the night from a man called Peter Stillman, played by Jack Tarlton (BRENDA), who is looking for a private detective. Quinn soon falls under the spell of Virginia (played by Vivienne Acheampong; The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time), a strange and seductive woman, who engages him to protect her young husband from his sociopathic father.
As the familiar territory of the noir detective genre gives way to something altogether more disturbing and unpredictable, Quinn becomes consumed by his mission, and begins to lose his grip on reality. Will he be drawn deeper into the abyss, or might unmasking this dark story of familial abuse and religious conspiracy provide the purpose and meaning he needs to rebuild his shattered life?
City Of Glass marks the first theatre production originated by the multi award-winning company of artists, 59 Productions. Renowned for creating visual content and technical design for many of the world’s greatest venues, including the National Theatre, Royal Opera House, The Metropolitan Opera New York, Lincoln Center, Salzburg Festival, Schaubühne Berlin, and the Sydney Opera House, as well as for countless productions in London’s West End and on Broadway, 59 Productions won a coveted Tony Award in 2015 for their design work on An American In Paris, with founding director Leo Warner leading the company’s creative team.
Featuring design inspired by the acclaimed graphic novel by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli, this brand new production will feature many of the groundbreaking techniques that have made 59 Productions “the leading purveyors of video for theatre in the world”. Cutting-edge projection-mapping, combined with stagecraft, magic and illusion will immerse audiences into Quinn’s increasingly dystopic and fragmented world.
City Of Glass plays at the Lyric Hammersmith between 20 April – 13 May; for more information and to book your tickets, visit the theatre’s website.