New stage version of Stanley Kubrick masterpiece is an absolute triumph

Stephen Porzio

Starring Steve Coogan as four different characters, tickets are on sale now.

Due to various global developments, a feeling of nuclear anxiety is in the air and it’s already being represented in the arts.

This specific, pervading sense of dread was at the heart of Christopher Nolan’s recent Oscar Best Picture winner Oppenheimer. Just this week, meanwhile, it was announced that the 1964 nuclear war thriller Fail Safe will be getting a reimagining.

The latter will arrive hot on the heels of acclaimed satirist Armando Iannucci’s stage remake of Stanley Kubrick’s classic 1964 movie Dr. Strangelove – a film that plays out like the more comedic take on Fail Safe.

Now playing at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, this new version of Strangelove retains the original’s ‘60s setting – depicting how bureaucracy, the red scare and man’s inclination to war creates a nuclear crisis.

And at the centre of the production is Steve Coogan playing four different characters, one-upping Peter Sellers who only played three in the original.

While remaking Kubrick’s movie – widely considered one of the best comedies, if not films, ever – may make readers sceptical, Iannucci and his co-writer and director Sean Foley’s version works as well as one could have possibly hoped for.

The pair transform the piece into a farce that perfectly fits the stage, adding in more jokes to double the absurdity of the central situation – as its lead characters essentially bicker their way into possible annihilation.

That said, Foley and Iannucci subtly infuse some more topical references into the script. This is so that even when the story reaches its most outlandish, there remains a lingering fear that this could actually happen someday.

The show is also a real spectacle. While it occasionally struggles to replicate some of the more cinematic moments from Kubrick’s movie, the big stylish sets and the way they transform from scene to scene is remarkable.

And it’s honestly astounding how Coogan can embody four very different types of people – each with multiple long wordy scenes – and make them feel distinct and unique. You genuinely forget that you are watching just one actor in all these parts. And dare I say, his portrayal of the title character is actually funnier than Sellers.

It’s worth noting, however, that Coogan is aided by a great supporting cast – with Giles Terera and John Hopkins as other hilarious standouts.

When speaking to JOE just after his version of Strangelove was announced, Iannucci said he wanted to send home audiences “laughing and afraid”. He and Foley have succeeded with flying colours.