Stage adaptation of Minority Report to open in Feb 2024
September 25, 2023
Simon Friend Entertainment has announced that, in partnership with co-producers Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, Birmingham Rep and Nottingham Playhouse, the World Premiere stage adaptation of Minority Report will be presented next spring. Based on Philip K. Dick’s 1956 near-future novella made globally famous by Steven Spielberg’s 2002 blockbuster movie, this timely presentation is adapted for the stage by David Haig (My Boy Jack, Pressure) and reunites Simon Friend Entertainment with director Max Webster (Life of Pi, Henry V and the forthcoming production of Macbeth starring David Tennant, Donmar Warehouse), whose multi-award-winning production of Life of Pi has captivated audiences both sides of the Atlantic.
Opening at the Nottingham Playhouse, where it plays from 16 Feb – 9 March 2023, Minority Report then tours to the Birmingham Repertory Theatre (22 March – 6 April 2023) before concluding it’s run at London’s Lyric Hammersmith from 19th April – 18 May 2023.
This incredible theatrical experience will use innovative technology to create a world at the borders of science fiction and reality and, unlike the novella and Hollywood film, this innovative new production relocates the action to London, with the central character (most famously played by Tom Cruise) as a leading female neuroscientist, Dame Julia Anderton.
In 2050, neuroscientist Dame Julia Anderton is about to launch the next phase of her pioneering Pre-Crime programme, detaining people for crimes before they are committed. But when Julia is accused of pre-murder, she’s in a race against time to save herself from her own system.
This thrilling adaptation of Phillip K Dick’s iconic story challenges our beliefs about justice and free will in a real-time chase through London of the future.
Producer Simon Friend says of today’s announcement: “I’m delighted to announce the world premiere stage version of Minority Report, based on Philip K. Dick’s short story, adapted by David Haig. We commissioned this project several years ago, but with its prescient central theme of personal technological surveillance, it has only become more alarmingly relevant to the world in which we live, despite the original story having been written in 1956. I’m also excited to reunite with director Max Webster, after the continued success of our production of Life of Pi, to create another entertaining, ambitious, and thought-provoking piece of theatre, and to partner with some of the country’s best producing theatres in Nottingham Playhouse, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, and Lyric Hammersmith.”
Writer David Haig, who adapts the production for the stage continues: “It’s been the most exciting challenge of my career: to write a futuristic thriller for the stage, based on one of the greatest sci-fi stories ever told.”
Director Max Webster adds “I’m really pleased to be directing Minority Report – a story so many people know and love – but which, in David Haig’s thrilling retelling, suddenly becomes a chillingly relevant thriller about law, justice and the power of technology to predict the future.”
The wider creative team comprises; Production Designer Jon Bausor; Video Designer Tal Rosner; Lighting Designer Jessica Hung Han Yun; Composer and Sound Designer Nicola T. Chang; Movement Director Lucy Hind Casting Director Lotte Hines CDG. Full casting to be announced.
David Haig (Writer) is an Olivier award-winning actor and FIPA award-winning writer. His writing credits include: My Boy Jack which opened at Hampstead Theatre in 1997 and subsequently toured in 2004; The Good Samaritan (Hampstead Theatre, 2000) and Pressure (a co-production by Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and Chichester Festival Theatre) which was nominated for Best New Play at the 2014 UK Theatre Awards. The play was revived in 2018. It toured the country, ran at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park for 2 months, and then transferred to the West End for a sold-out run at the Ambassador’s Theatre. Pressure enjoyed its North American premiere at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto in 2023.
In 2007, David adapted My Boy Jack for screen, produced by Ecosse Films and ITV. The adaptation, which starred David alongside Daniel Radcliffe, Carey Mulligan and Kim Cattrall, won Best Screenplay at the International Festival of Audiovisual Programmes (FIPA) in 2008.
David is currently working on a new play: Magic, a commission by Nicholas Hytner for the Bridge Theatre. He is also developing a film version of Pressure with Working Title and Studio Canal.
Max Webster (Director) is the Associate Director at The Donmar Warehouse. As Director, theatre credits include: Life of Pi (Broadway, West End & currently on a UK Tour – Winner of 5 Tony and Olivier Awards); Henry V (Donmar Warehouse); Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (Old Vic Theatre/San Diego Old Globe/Minneapolis Children’s Theatre); Antigone, Twelfth Night, As You Like It (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); The Jungle Book (Fiery Angel); Fanny and Alexander, Cover My Tracks (Old Vic Theatre); The Twits (Curve Theatre Leicester); The Winter’s Tale (The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh); The Sea of Fertility, Mary Stuart (Parco Productions Tokyo); Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare’s Globe); Shostakovich’s Hamlet (City of London Sinfonia); Orlando, To Kill a Mockingbird, My Young and Foolish Heart (Royal Exchange Manchester); James and the Giant Peach, My Generation (Leeds Playhouse); Carnival Under the Rainbow, Feast Kakulu (Hilton Festival, South Africa) and Caucasian Chalk Circle (Aarohan Theatre, Kathmandu).
Opera credits include: La Bohème (Göteborgsoperan, Sweden); The Merry Widow (English National Opera) and Owen Wingrave (British Youth Opera).
Upcoming work Includes Macbeth (Donmar Warehouse, Starring David Tennant).
One of the most celebrated authors of the last century, Philip K. Dick was published in the Library of America in 2007 and has received literary recognition unprecedented for a contemporary science fiction writer. His more than 40 novels and 125 short stories have been translated into 25 languages. Dick’s works have been the basis for blockbuster movies such as the Ridley Scott directed, Blade Runner (1982) and Denis Villeneuve directed Blade Runner 2049 (2017), as well as two versions of Total Recall (1990) and (2012) and Adjustment Bureau (2011).
Founded in 2007, Electric Shepherd Productions is dedicated to the stewardship and adaptation of the Philip K. Dick library and is owned and operated by daughter of the author, Isa Dick Hackett. ESP’s most recent projects include the Emmy Award-winning television series The Man in the High Castle, based on Philip K. Dick’s Hugo Award-winning novel of the same name, and Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, an anthology show based on different short stories, with Ronald D. Moore, Michael Dinner, Bryan Cranston, and Sony Pictures TV. Current projects include a feature film based on Philip K. Dick’s novel Vulcan’s Hammer, which ESP is producing alongside New Republic and director Francis Lawrence.