This Autumn The Coronet Theatre brings together three major international artistic talents to present Sarah by American Appalachian writer Scott McClanahan, adapted and directed by Berliner Ensemble Artistic Director Oliver Reese and performed by one of the UK’s leading actors, Jonathan Slinger.
‘We worked with Oliver Reese, Artistic Director of The Berliner Ensemble, when we presented the truly exceptional production of The Tin Drum in 2020, our last international production before Covid. Throughout lockdown Oliver and I continued working together on future projects. So when he sent me McClanahan’s The Sarah Book, I, like him, thought it would make an outstanding stage play. Its dark humour and passion moved, amused and disturbed me, and I am so glad to make a brand- new English language production for the UK.’ Anda Winters, Artistic Director of The Coronet Theatre.
Adapted from McClanahan’s novel The Sarah Book, Sarah is a window into modern middle- America and an intimate, raw and surprisingly funny story of the end of a marriage. Scott is an average American guy. He teaches literature at a trade school, is married with two children and always tries to do the right thing. But what is the ‘right’ thing in the context of the American Dream? In this powerful one-man semi-autobiographical show McClanahan takes us on the journey of a man witnessing his world crumbling whilst living it – and of perhaps coming out the other side.
Oliver Reese has staged several plays based on biographical texts in Berlin, Frankfurt and Vienna. Many of his productions are his own dramatisations of novels or documentary material including Günter Grass’ The Tin Drum, My Name is Gantenbein by Max Frisch, and Nabokov’s Lolita. Reese is particularly interested in current material and contemporary plays by living authors. A production of Sarah was made in German for the Berliner Ensemble. This completely new staging is in English using its original language and idiom. Biography below.
Jonathan Slinger returns to The Coronet to play Scott in an extraordinary one-man performance. Jonathan, who was at The Coronet in 2017 in Trouble In Mind, is one of the leading theatrical actors of his generation, having worked extensively in the West End, RSC, National Theatre and many other theatres across the UK. He is also a well-known face on screen, recently appearing in major roles in Shadow and Bone (Netflix), Alex Rider (Amazon) and The Salisbury Poisonings (BBC). Full biography below.
Sarah is designed by Katja Pech, with lighting by Steffen Heinke, costumes by Elina Schnizler and music by Jörg Gollasch adapted by George Rigby.
Sarah is at The Coronet Theatre 18th November – Saturday 17th December.
