Fans who have paid to watch James Norton in a West End play have reportedly been walking out of the show about rape, torture and child abuse.
The Happy Valley star, 37, is starring in the much-anticipated West End adaptation of cult novel directed by Ivo van Hove.
A Little Life has left preview audiences traumatised by its graphic on-stage portrayals of suicide, self-harm and paedophilia – with one audience member counting 11 people walking out.
One attendee at Richmond Theatre, where the stage re-telling of Hanya Yanagihara’s 2015 book opened on Tuesday, told The Mirror they made the decision to leave at the interval after the ‘relentless misery’ became too much for them.
Another audience member called the adaptation, brought to stage by director Ivo Van Hove, ‘possibly the most upsetting, unflinchingly brutal and explicit play I’ve ever seen.’
Tough watch: Fans who have paid to watch James Norton in a West End play have been walking out of the show about rape, torture and child abuse
Talent: The Happy Valley star, 37, is starring in the much-anticipated West End adaptation of cult novel directed by Ivo van Hove.
The Guardian’s Sian Cain said it was ‘four hours of brutality and misery’ and added: ‘Crisis helplines are listed on placards. Two paramedics sit just outside the theatre doors. They’re ready. Some of the audience are not.’
Theatre-goers are also given details of mental health charities for those disturbed by the content.
The performance, which lasts a whopping 3 hours and 40 minutes and will soon transfer to the Savoy Theatre, has a star-studded cast, including James, It’s A Sin actor Omari Douglas and Bridgerton ‘s Luke Thompson.
The book, shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2015, became a word-of-mouth hit and won the author a following of dedicated fans.
The novel is 814 pages long and follows four classmates from a small US college who move to New York and their relationships with one another, as well as complex issues including sexual abuse, disability and addiction.
After attending early performances this week, fans of the play took to social media to express their shock at just how ‘raw’ the production is.
One wrote: ‘#Only made it to the interval of ‘A Little Life’. 1 hour 50′ of relentless misery was more than enough for me….(I gather it didn’t end ‘happily’) #Alittlelifeplay.’
A fellow audience member wrote: ‘#ALittleLifePlay is brutal. Relentlessly brutal. But also brilliant theatre. The entire cast shines. But it’s James Norton who is the powerhouse. Barely off stage for more than 3.5 hours, this may be his best work. Award winning stuff. But not for the faint hearted!’
Awful: A Little Life has left preview audiences traumatised by its graphic on-stage portrayals of suicide, self-harm and paedophilia – with one audience member counting 11 people walking out
Response: One attendee at Richmond Theatre, where the stage re-telling of Hanya Yanagihara’s 2015 book opened on Tuesday, said they made the decision to leave at the interval after the ‘relentless misery’ became too much for them
Another added: ‘Possibly the most upsetting, unflinchingly brutal and explicit play I’ve ever seen which is definitely not for the faint of heart. The entire cast soars and James Norton is an absolute powerhouse in this heartbreaking epic.’
One theatregoer penned on Twitter: ‘It feels wrong to say you enjoyed something when the content is so raw & difficult, but I am extremely glad I got to see this masterpiece brought to life in such a thoughtful way.’
The novel became a critically acclaimed bestseller, with celebrity fans including Dua Lipa who said the book ‘changed her life’ on her podcast.
James Norton hasn’t shied away from demanding roles – the actor was acclaimed for playing Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley, but this is likely to be one of the star’s toughest acting challenges yet.
The actor, who’s a Type 1 diabetic, told The Graham Norton Show in November that the play, at 3 hours 40 minutes, is so long he has to eat on stage to keep his blood sugar levels stable.
He told Norton: ‘The added component is that I don’t leave the stage for a couple of hours and I am a type 1 diabetic, so I have juice, and I can’t bring it up because it’s got branding on it!
‘But I have sweet things which I’ll have to have scattered around the stage just in case I go hypoglycaemic.’
