Bristol Old Vic has released the first production photographs of Lanny, Bea Roberts's stage version of Max Porter's novel, ahead of the world premiere's press night on 22 October.
The pictures, taken by Helen Murray, are the second set the theatre has issued for the production, following the rehearsal images published in September, and they come a week into a run that began on 16 October and continues until 7 November. Staged in association with ETT, Lanny is billed as the flagship of Bristol Old Vic's 260th year, and the theatre says the adaptation has been five years in the making.
Porter's 2019 book, nominated for the Man Booker Prize, moves a family out of the city to a village a short distance from Bristol, where their young son catches the attention of Dead Papa Toothwort, an ancient presence listening from the woods. As the story unfolds, folklore and everyday life bleed into one another, and underneath it all sits the question of what it takes to belong somewhere. The novel was warmly received on publication, with the Financial Times calling it "magically beguiling".
Nancy Medina, Bristol Old Vic's artistic director, directs. Her recent credits include The Beautiful Future Is Coming, A Good House and Choir Boy, while Roberts, who also wrote the lyrics, is the writer of And Then Come the Nightjars. Porter is best known for his earlier novel Grief is the Thing with Feathers, a Sunday Times bestseller.
Across the company, Hanora Kamen plays Jolie, Raj Bajaj is Robert and Richard Cant is Pete. Rupert Holliday Evans appears as The Lecturer and Amanda Lawrence as Peggy, each alongside other parts, and Liam Bergin and Rose Wardlaw take several roles between them. Two young actors, Atlas Johnson-Dutfield and Lucian Thomas, share the title role of Lanny, both in their professional stage debuts. Most of the cast and creative team are drawn from Bristol and the wider South West.
Rebecca Jane Wood designs the set and costumes, with composition and musical direction by Dom Coyote, movement direction by Dan Canham, lighting by Zeynep Kepekli and sound by Elena Peña and Dave Price. Izzy Bristow is puppetry consultant, Christopher Harrisson video designer and Ben Atterbury dramaturg, while casting is by Arthur Carrington CDG, with Ruby Gilmour as child casting director. The team is rounded out by assistant director Maddie Wakeling, assistant movement director Divija Melally, dramatherapist Alice Nicholas, voice and dialect coach Rebecca Daltry, intimacy director Lex Kaby and head chaperone Julian Arney, with costume supervision by Bristol Costume Services.
Lanny plays at Bristol Old Vic on King Street until 7 November, with evening performances at 7.30pm and matinees at 2.30pm on selected dates. Tickets start at £11, and the production is recommended for ages 13 and over.
For more information, visit the official website.
