#‘The Hunger Games’ Play Sets London Debut

The girl on fire is headed to London.

The first-ever live stage adaptation of Suzanne Collins‘ acclaimed novel The Hunger Games is set to make its debut in the fall of 2024.

Olivier Award-winning playwright Conor McPherson has adapted the first novel in Collins’ series and the first film in Lionsgate’s dystopian franchise for its theatrical run. Matthew Dunster, who has helmed 2:22 – A Ghost Story and Hangmen, will direct the production.

“I’m very excited to be collaborating with the amazing team of Conor McPherson and Matthew Dunster as they bring their dynamic and innovative interpretation of The Hunger Games to the London stage,” Collins shared in a statement.

McPherson echoed the excitement, noting the author’s blessing was both “humbling and inspiring.” “She has created a classic story which continues to resonate now more than ever,” he wrote in his own statement. “In a world where the truth itself seems increasingly up for grabs, The Hunger Games beautifully expresses values of resilience, self-reliance and independent moral inquiry for younger people especially.”

The Hunger Games play will bring the novel’s story to life, following 24 young tributes who are pitted against each other in a deadly arena. When Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence in the film franchise, volunteers as tribute for her 12-year-old sister, she emerges as a symbol of rebellion as she fights for her life and the hope of a nation oppressed by the Capitol.

Dunster, for his part, shared that as soon as he heard the project’s title, he was in because he loved the film and jokingly admitted that it’s the only work call he’s ever gotten that his kids have been excited about.

“To add one of our greatest living playwrights, Conor McPherson, and experience him honoring the voice of Katniss Everdeen so rigorously has been a great privilege,” the director said. “This is theatre. It’s The Hunger Games in the theatre. And with the world-class team we have put together we aim to do something that is fully immersed in the novel and the film but is uniquely, thrillingly theatrical.”

The play is the most recent project to stem from the epic novel series. Collins penned a prequel installment titled The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, which has been turned into a film that will hit theaters in November. It follows the story of Lucy Gray Baird, the first tribute from District 12 to make it out of the Hunger Games alive.

The creative team behind the stage production is made up of set designer Miriam Buether; costume designer Moi Tran; choreographer Charlotte Broom; lighting designer Lucy Carter; sound designer Ian Dickinson for Autograph; video designer Tal Rosner; fight director Kev McCurdy; casting director Amy Ball; production manager Gary Beestone; and performer flying by John Maddox for Suspended Illusions.

Producers of The Hunger Games play include Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, Oliver Royds for BOS Productions and Isobel David by arrangement with Lionsgate.