Ralph Fiennes to star in David Hare’s COVID-19 play ‘Beat The Devil’

Los Angeles, Aug 11: Tony-winning British actor Ralph Fiennes is set to perform writer-director David Hare’s monologue “Beat the Devil”, a new play written as a response to the playwright’s experience with contracting coronavirus.
According to Deadline, the performance will mark Fiennes’ debut at London’s Bridge Theatre, that aims to reopen this September and October, using 250 socially distanced seats out of its 900 available ones.
Nicholas Hytner will direct the production.
“We are hoping that we will get the green light to open with a reduced capacity of 250 seats and stringent safety measures, and we are inviting audiences from today to book seats with the assurance that, of course, if the season is delayed there will be automatic refunds for any performances that can’t go ahead,” the theatre management said in a statement.
The play is a one-man show about the Hare’s experience with contracting COVID-19 and the politics surrounding the pandemic.
“Hare recalls the delirium of his illness, which mix with fear, dream, honest medicine and dishonest politics to create a monologue…of furious urgency and power,” the play’s synopsis read.
Apart from ‘Beat The Devil’, Alan Bennett’s “Talking Heads” monologues are also included in the Bridge Theatre’s reopening offerings. (PTI)