Chiwetel Ejiofor is currently being well praised for his acting contribution to Steve McQueen’s 12 YEARS A SLAVE. Recently he’s also been involved in a stage play titled A SEASON IN THE CONGO, directed by ATONEMENT and ANNA KARENINA director Joe Wright. It has now been announced that both Ejiofor and Wright will re-team for the big screen adaptation. Taking place during the 1960 Congo rebellion and focusing on the assassination of a major political leader, Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected leader in the country’s history.
Planning to shoot on location in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the film will be the first attempt by the original theatre to transpose one of their plays onto celluloid. The Young Vic is adapting the process, adopted by many of the big name theatres in recent years, of shooting a version of the play for cinematic release. Only this time, the film will be exactly that and not just a filmed version of the stage performance.
I love the idea of the theatres themselves taking responsibility for the films, as well as giving the original stage cast and crew the experience of making a film. Artistic director of the Young Vic, David Lan had this to say when speaking to The Guardian:
Our new crazy thing is to say to our theatre directors who’ve never worked in film, ‘OK, you’ve done the show, now make a film.’
Source: The Guardian
