Steve Coogan is channelling his inner Peter Sellers, signing up for a stage adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s seminal nuclear war satire Dr. Strangelove (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb) – Armando Iannucci is adapting for the stage with Coogan set to play multiple roles, as Sellers did in the 1964 film.
Adapting the script alongside Veep and Death of Stalin director Armando Iannucci is Sean Foley, who has had West End success with The Painkiller, starring Kenneth Branagh, and Ben Elton’s The Upstart Crow. Foley will also direct the play, which will premiere at London’s Noel Coward Theatre on October 8.
The official Stanley Kubrick X/Twitter account announced that Coogan, the Manchester comic behind Alan Partridge, star of the Oscar-nominated Philomena and co-founder alongside poet Henry Normal of Manchester production house Baby Cow, would star:
Sellers played three roles in Kubrick’s film: Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, dimwitted US President Merkin Muffley, and the wheelchair-bound German rocket scientist Dr. Strangelove himself. Sellers picked up an Oscar nomination for his performance.
The stage version of Dr. Strangelove, the first-ever adaptation of a Kubrick film, is being produced by Patrick Myles and David Luff, in association with Tulchin Bartner Productions and Playful Productions. Jonathan Cameron is the executive producer for the Stanley Kubrick Estate. The film, about a rogue U.S. general who triggers nuclear armageddon, is considered a masterpiece of comedy and dark satire.
“The idea of putting Dr Strangelove on stage is daunting, a huge responsibility,” Coogan said in a statement. “It’s also an exciting challenge, an opportunity to bring this timeless classic to a new audience. Knowing that I will be part of a creative team led by Sean Foley and Armando Iannucci means I will be working with the best people. Sean is a master of stage comedy and Armando and I started working with each other over 30 years ago. We made some memorable comedy together so it’s great to be collaborating with him once again.”
