#‘The Da Vinci Code’ Stage Play Arriving Next Year, Because Sure, Why Not?

Remember The Da Vinci Code? Dan Brown‘s obscenely popular bestseller about a puzzle-solving murder mystery involving a conspiracy within the Catholic church? Well, it’s back – in stage play form. Sadly, this won’t be a musical. Instead, it’s being described as a “stage thriller,” and the current plan is to open the production in the U.K. next April.

I don’t know about you, but I got very excited when I saw the news over at Broadway.com that there was going to be a Da Vinci Code stage play. Especially when I saw this promo art:

The reason for my excitement: I immediately assumed this was going to be a musical, and I figured that device in Robert Langdon’s hand up there was a microphone (you know – to sing into). I was deflated when I read that this, in fact, isn’t going to be a musical, and realized that the thing in Langdon’s hand is just the cryptex that was featured in the book and film adaptation.

Come on, don’t deny it: you would absolutely be interested in a Da Vinci Code musical, if only for the absurdity factor. Unfortunately, we’ll have to settle for a song-free stage adaptation. The play will make its world premiere on a U.K. tour in 2021, opening first at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley on April 3, 2021. The book was adapted for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel, and will be directed by Luke Sheppard.

Published in 2003, The Da Vinci Code became a publishing phenomenon, and inspired a 2006 film directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks. In The Da Vinci Code, “A murder in Paris’ Louvre Museum and cryptic clues in some of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery. For 2,000 years a secret society closely guards information that – should it come to light — could rock the very foundations of Christianity.” I have no idea how well this will translate to the stage – so much of the story involves characters moving from one location to the next, and you can’t really do that on stage. I also wonder if anyone even still cares about The Da Vinci Code these days. But I guess we’ll find out next year.

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