Steve Coogan will lead the first ever adaption of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove as it prepares to open in the West End in Autumn 2024.
Steve Coogan:
“The idea of putting Dr Strangelove on stage is daunting. A huge responsibility. 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.”
Coogan will play multiple roles in the production set to begin performances on Tuesday 8 October 2024 at Noël Coward Theatre, London for a strictly limited season through until Saturday 21 December 2024.
This jet-black comedy masterpiece, about a rogue U.S. General who triggers a nuclear crisis, is brought to the stage by acclaimed, BAFTA and Emmy Award winner Armando Iannucci and Olivier Award winner Sean Foley in an explosively funny satire of mutually assured destruction. Sean Foley will also direct.
Sean Foley:
“I’m thrilled and excited to finally be able to say that one of our very finest actor-comedians, the amazingly talented Steve Coogan, is to play the lead in our world premiere stage version of Dr Strangelove. Across stand up, sitcom, tv, and film, and in both comic and dramatic roles, Steve has excelled being able to make people belly laugh even while they wince – sensing the maladroit, the madness, and the menace in his extraordinary characters… I can think of no better actor to convey the ‘nightmare comedy’ of Strangelove.”
Steve Coogan was born and raised in Manchester where he trained as an actor at the Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre. Shortly after Drama School, Steve landed his first job as an impersonator and comic on the satirical ITV series Spitting Image.
In 1992 Coogan won the Perrier Award for his show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Whilst appearing on various shows on BBC Radio 4, the iconic British institution that is Alan Partridge was born. The character moved from radio to TV and over the years has picked up a number of BAFTAs and British Comedy Awards. Coogan has taken the character on three nationwide sell out tours. Mid Morning Matters aired on Sky Atlantic in February 2016 to critical acclaim and was followed by a mockumentary special, Scissored Isle for Sky for which he won a BAFTA for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme.
Recent TV appearances include The Reckoning and Chivalry in 2022 and Stephen in 2021. Previously Coogan starred in Saxondale in 2006, Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2007, The Simpsons in 2012, Happyish in 2015 and four seasons of The Trip with Rob Brydon including the latest instalment, The Trip to Greece. Coogan won the BAFTA for Best Male Comedy Performance in 2011 for his performance in the first series.
For his work across TV and film, Coogan has won seven BAFTA Awards and seven British Comedy Awards. He was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award for Best Actor for his role in the critically acclaimed Stan & Ollie, starring opposite John C. Reilly and he was awarded The Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy in 2019.
Armando Iannucci:
“It’s a tale of our time and it needs one of the most amazing talents of our time to tell it: I’ve seen Steve Coogan close-up for many years now, and can tell you that no-one gets right under the skin of a character the way he does. There’s a total focus on how each character would speak and move and even think, added to which is an instinctive comic timing and dramatic charisma that’s second to none. He’s able to get huge audiences to connect with the vulnerabilities and fine details of each character he brings to life. We’re all so delighted he’ll be bringing these amazing gifts to the stage for the hugely contrasting roles in ‘Dr Strangelove’ and I for one can’t wait to see Steve make them his own. It’s going to be a thrill for all of us.”
Tickets are on-sale now from www.DrStrangelove.com
