Hunger Games Stage Adaptation Draws Harsh Criticism In London

The West End stage adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games has received a bruising reception from at least one major critic, who labelled the new production incoherent, emotionally thin and overly dependent on its blockbuster film counterpart.

Staged at the vast Troubadour auditorium in London, purpose built for the show, the production is directed by Matthew Dunster with a script by playwright Conor McPherson. It brings Collins’ dystopian tale to the stage, following 24 teenagers forced by the authoritarian Capitol to fight to the death in a televised spectacle.

While the original novels and the film series led by Jennifer Lawrence have been widely praised, this adaptation is being held up as a cautionary example of the theatre industry’s current rush to convert hit screen properties into live experiences. According to the review, the production fails to find its own theatrical language and does little to interrogate the uneasy subject matter at its core.

Strong source material, weak characterisation

At the centre of the story is Katniss Everdeen, the young woman from impoverished District 12 who volunteers in place of her younger sister. Newcomer Mia Carragher, daughter of former footballer and columnist Jamie Carragher, is singled out as a capable and committed lead. However, the critic argues that the script gives her surprisingly little depth to play, despite her being on stage for most of the performance.

The review contends that McPherson’s writing leans on generic emotional beats rather than a clearly defined inner life for Katniss. More troubling, in the critic’s view, is the lack of characterisation for the other tributes. In a story that hinges on children being forced to kill one another for entertainment, the failure to flesh out those young participants is described as not just a dramatic problem but an ethical one.

A copy of the films, not a reinvention

Creative choices throughout the production are said to mirror the films very closely. The score recalls the movie soundtracks and visual motifs are heavily recycled, from the dust blown look of District 12 to the exaggerated decadence of the Capitol. TV host Caesar Flickerman, played by Stavros Demetraki, appears with blue hair and a grotesquely fixed grin, clearly echoing Stanley Tucci’s film portrayal.

A lengthy list of producers and co producers in the programme is cited as evidence of the commercial weight behind the project. Yet despite that backing, the staging is described as surprisingly routine. The critic notes that, aside from one brief moment of suspended action high above the stage, the production does little to exploit the scale of the Troubadour space.

Video projections of fire, forest landscapes and the digital visage of John Malkovich as President Snow reportedly feel detached from the live action rather than integrated into it. The villain’s presence, appearing only on screens, is described as oddly bland instead of menacing.

Spectacle without tension

There are some isolated technical flourishes, including knife throwing and archery tricks during the arena sequences, stylised lighting to suggest swarms of genetically engineered wasps, and tightly choreographed movement. However, the review argues that these elements do not build sustained suspense. For a story that should be saturated with danger and dread, the production is said to generate little genuine tension or emotional jeopardy.

The critic characterises the overall effect as gladiatorial in scale but lacking intimacy. The audience is kept at arm’s length from the horror and moral complexity of what they are watching, and the show misses the chance to make viewers feel complicit in the spectacle, a key theme of Collins’ original work.

Abandoned bold concept

Perhaps most striking is the revelation that McPherson originally envisaged a very different approach. In a programme note, he reportedly outlines an initial concept that would have played out almost like a story told around a kitchen table, with minimal props and heavy reliance on the audience’s imagination.

The review suggests that such a stripped back, psychologically driven version might have offered a daring alternative to the expected blockbuster treatment. Instead, the final production is described as an unsatisfying compromise, sitting uneasily between cinematic replication and true theatrical reinvention.

For now, this early critical response paints The Hunger Games on stage as another high profile example of the film to theatre pipeline that struggles to justify its existence beside the source material it adapts.