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The Hunger Games: On Stage’ Opens in London to Mixed Early Reviews

Early notices praise arena-scale effects, with many finding the story thin.

Overview

  • The production is running at the purpose-built 1,200-seat Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre, which uses moving seating blocks for an immersive arena feel.
  • Playwright Conor McPherson adapts Suzanne Collins’s first book with Matthew Dunster directing a spectacle-heavy staging of fights, fire bursts and large video screens, with performances scheduled through October 2026.
  • Mia Carragher makes her stage debut as Katniss Everdeen alongside Euan Garrett’s Peeta, with several critics noting limited chemistry and rushed character development.
  • John Malkovich appears only in pre-recorded segments on screens as President Snow, a choice reviewers describe as visually flat.
  • Reviews widely commend the visceral action but question the emotional depth and pacing, with reports of some top tickets at £200-plus and earlier preview crowd congestion contrasted by smoothly run performances observed by at least one critic.