Review of 'NT Live: Dr. Strangelove'

https://drstrangelove.ntlive.com/

When I heard that comedian Steve Coogan would be staring in the National Theatre's production of “Dr. Strangelove”, based on the 1964 film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb staring Peter Sellers, I knew I had to see it. But, not living in London any longer, I was unable to catch it at the theatre before it closed in January so I was very happy to hear it was coming to our local cinema as a broadcast of a live performance. It was an amazing experience (this, despite a technical issue where the volume was too low)…

The story focuses on Jack D. Ripper (John Hopkins), a mad US General, who is set on starting World War 3 to preserve our “precious bodily fluids” from the “red menace” that is the Soviet Union. As the nuclear bombers approach Russia the US war room establishes a dialogue with the Russian president but will they be able to stop the bombs in time?

Coogan is perfectly cast here as Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, trying to talk Ripper into recalling the bombers, the US president, a bomber pilot (something not even Sellers attempted), and, of course, the rather peculiar Dr. Strangelove, unsuccessfully hiding his possible Nazi background. The scene regularly switches between the air force base where Ripper is repelling armed forces, the war room in the US capital and, later, the cockpit of a bomber as it approaches it's Russian target. This all means, of course, a huge number of costume changes for Coogan which are handled quite seamlessly, with the use of trap doors, convenient phone calls that cause one character to go off stage and another to take their place. With all of this activity and a 2 hour 30 minute running time there is an interval (a timer is displayed on the live broadcast to allow the audience time to seek refreshment).

Surprisingly, the play stays quite true to the film without missing much at all other than a few likely ad-lib jokes made by Peter Sellers during filming. It has to be said that Coogan is not nearly as manic as Peter Sellers but he does have a calm, dry whit that does suit the role(s) quite well. The supporting cast features Hamilton London production alumni Giles Terera as General Buck Turgidson, and John Hopkins as Jack D. Ripper, channelling his inner-American (though his accent never entirely convinces, mind you, neither Coogan nor Sellers entirely convince with their accents either…).

This is a completely OTT satire of the cold war that is largely played for laughs but it's dark undertone is all too clear. As the play progresses you can feel the overwhelming threat facing the characters though, oddly, they never seem to be too much worried about what is going to happen, instead focusing on dealing with the practical aspects they face. Only the president and Mandrake seem overly determined to stop the war while everyone around them seems to not be too bothered…perhaps a bit too real…?

An amazing and amusing stage adoption of the seminal film, well worth seeing.

Rating: “I have absolutely no complaints”

Review Date: 2025-03-31

Location: Cheshire (England)

Address: Phoenix Leisure Park, Dunwoody Way, Crewe CW1 3AW ENGLAND

Public Transport: NTLOGO Crewe

Telephone: +44 (0) 333 014 4501

URL: https://www.odeon.co.uk/cinemas/crewe/

A rather run-down local cinema in a recently-revitalized leisure park just outside of Crewe city centre. Features a Ben & Jerry's ice cream vendor and a Costa.