Tobias Menzies (The Crown, Game of Thrones) makes a breathtaking U.S. stage debut in the critically lauded Almeida Theatre production The Hunt (starting February 16, 2024), based on Thomas Vinterberg’s 2012 film Jagten. The Hunt catapults audiences into some of today’s thorniest questions surrounding mob justice. In a performance that has been described as “superb” (Sunday Times), “devastating” (Evening Standard), and “extraordinarily powerful and restrained” (The Stage), Menzies portrays an elementary school teacher accused of misconduct by a child in a rural Danish hunting town. Rupert Goold’s thrilling staging unfolds on Es Devlin’s brilliant set, a literal glass house revolving into anarchy. The Hunt is the second adaptation of a Vinterberg work presented by St. Ann’s Warehouse, following its 2012 U.S. premiere of Grzegorz Jarzyna’s blistering, “viscerally charged” (The New York Times) production of Festen, Vinterberg’s final Dogme 95 film.
Es Devlin’s set, while minimalist and beautiful, also never reaches a satisfying use. The glass tiny-house at its center spins, fogs up, reveals and conceals different characters, but to no fulfilling end. By the nth time a character within the house knocks to be let into the scene, you begin to wonder on what logic these overused axes spin.
In addition to a winning cast, The Hunt has a best-in-class production design. Es Devlin's set showcases a structure made of smart glass, which frosts instantaneously to allow actors to magically appear and disappear from scenes. (It’s made all the more incredible with a trapdoor beneath the stage.) The glass transforms into the classroom, the hunting lodge, and even the town’s church. As the play moves forward, it fills with more and more townspeople, with Lucas circling the outside on a spinning stage.
2024 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Adaptation | David Farr |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Play | Rupert Goold |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play | Tobias Menzies |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play | Es Devlin |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design of a Play | Adam Cork |
2024 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance | Tobias Menzies |
2024 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Play | Rupert Goold |
2024 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Play | The Hunt |
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