The Panopticon, Jenni Fagan’s gritty and gripping debut novel, is given a new perspective in this first stage adaptation from the National Theatre of Scotland. The show, adapted by Jenni Fagan and directed by Debbie Hannan, will visit Glasgow and Edinburgh in autumn 2019.
Fifteen-year old Anais Hendricks is smart, funny and fierce, but she is also a child who has been let down, or worse, by just about every adult she has ever met. Sitting in the back of a police car, she finds herself headed for the Panopticon, a vast institution for chronic young offenders. Inside the circular, controlling Panopticon the residents develop intense bonds. All have experienced the failings of the care system, Anais refuses to be defined by it.
Anais is a whipsmart countercultural outlaw and a new kind of heroine for the 21st century. Brought for the first time to the stage, The Panopticon is a visceral, bloody and brutal testament to life and friendship.
The gritty, magical realist stage world of the Panopticon will be evoked by arresting design from Max Johns, video design from Lewis Den Hertog and animation from Cat Bruce. A large ensemble cast will bring this physical and visceral production to life with fight direction from Emma-Claire Brightlyn and movement direction from Skye Reynolds.
Jenni Fagan’s best-selling debut cemented her role as one of the UK’s most exciting young writing talents, and led to her place as the only Scottish writer on Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists list in 2013. She was recently selected as the 2019 Dr Gavin Wallace Fellow, supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland. The Panopticon has been published in nine languages and is also being adapted for film, for which she has written the screenplay.
Debbie Hannan is a leading young Scottish director who has previously worked with the National Theatre of Scotland on Girl Meets Boy (Just Start Here); Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour and Enquirer. She recently directed The Ugly One (Tron Theatre) and Pah-La at the Royal Court Theatre, London. She is an Associate Director with the Bunker Theatre in London.
The role of Anais will be played by Anna Russell Martin, she previously appeared on Scottish stages in Cyrano de Bergerac (a National Theatre of Scotland, Citizens Theatre and Lyceum Theatre co-production). She recently appeared as one of the three Noras in Nora: A Doll’s House at the Citizen’s Theatre. She is joined by Martin Donaghy, Kyle Gardiner, Lawrence Hodgson-Mullings, Laura Lovemore, Kay McAllister, Louise McMenemy, Paul Tinto and Gail Watson.
Previewing at Platform, Glasgow, and opening at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, from 04 October to 19 October 2019.
Opening performance at Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh 7.30pm on 11 October 2019