Dr Strangelove – Bord Gais Energy Theatre – Review
Dates – 05 – 22 February 2025

The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb was released in 1964, two years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, in a world filled with dread of Global Nuclear War. The film was co-written and directed by Stanley Kubrick and was a black comedy exploring the Cold War and how easily events could escalate, bringing about the end of days!

With its mix of political machinations and satire, it was a natural topic for co-adaptor Armando Iannucci (The Death of Stalin, The Thick of It) to adapt for the stage. Iannucci has also worked with Steve Coogan on a number of ventures including as a writer for Alan Partridge. This new production puts together the dream team of Coogan, Iannucci and director Sean Foley.

In terms of the adaptation, it is largely faithful to the original storyline but does add its own twist. It’s dangerous ground to tamper with a classic, but director Sean Foley was also involved with adaptations of other favourites including The Ladykillers (in 2011) and Withnail and I. “I’m always interested in taking something that’s brilliant and doing it in another medium, though it can be a poisoned chalice because people might say you’ve ruined it”. – Sean Foley

While in the original film, Peter Sellers plays three parts, in this production Coogan goes one better playing four different roles. He has cherry-picked the best parts and is involved in almost every scene. There are also moments where two of Coogan’s characters appear at the same time, with President Muffley and Dr Strangelove in conversation. If you’re wondering how this is achieved, it is through recorded segments shown on screen or with one character lurking in the background (played by another actor) while the other talks. The production is a vehicle for Coogan to show his comedic talents and fans of his work will have much to enjoy.

This production started life on stage in the Noël Coward Theatre, London in October of last year. The surprising element is that they’ve kept the same team of actors involved for Dublin, with Coogan the leading light. With Trump in the White House once more and much change in the political landscape, you would expect some substantial changes to the script but this temptation was resisted. The only topical alteration was a mention of Cork as a potential location to bomb to the amusement of the Dublin audience! While the absurdist nature of the original is still intact, this does feel more family-friendly than the original. The play takes life after the interval and Coogan’s gift of comic timing and physical humour provided many laughs.