If it’s still a little early to get a clear handle on David Byrne’s programming at the Royal Court – because new plays take years from comissioning to programing – then he’s certainly brought in a few big names you doubt would have found a berth under his predecessor Vicky Featherstone. If the headline grabber in his first year was Nicholas Hytner directing a very starry, Nicholas Hytner-style cast in the excellent Giant, then the biggie from year two is clearly Robert Icke. Although as leftfield aesthetically as many Court alumni, the fact his career has largely been based around revivals of classics has meant new writing powerhouse the Royal Court has technically been off limits to him.
However, as writer-director, Icke’s updated versions of the classics has pretty much been new plays in their own rights – he just happens to have not technically made one without some basis in a pre-existing work of drama. His Court debut Manhunt will see him do exactly that however: it’s an original drama based upon the life and death of Raoul Moat, the Newcastle man who went on the run after murdering his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend in 2010, culminating a manhunt with morbid and unexpected consequences.
Icke spoke a little about the show in his recent interview with us, which is about the most that has been said about it publicly, but expect a bit of money to be thrown behind it as it’s a co-production between the Court and West End super-producer Sonia Friedman. Icke pretty much always gets great casts, too, though that doesn’t necessarily mean celebrities.
