Dr. Strangelove play starring Steve Coogan opens at London’s Noël Coward Theatre
Like Peter Sellers in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic 1964 movie, Steve Coogan plays several roles in the stage version adapted by Armando Iannucci
Sixty years after director Stanley Kubrick’s movie Dr. Strangelove was released, a stage version of the black comedy has opened in London’s West End starring Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-award-winning actor Steve Coogan.
Like actor Peter Sellers in the original version of the Cold War farce, Coogan takes on several roles, including US President Merkin Muffley and German scientific adviser Dr Strangelove.
“It’s demanding physically, but it is rewarding to do,” Coogan said after a performance this week. “And audiences, if they laugh and they enjoy it, then that’s all you can ask for.”
Dr. Strangelove opens with US General Ripper giving orders to attack the then Soviet Union.
The US president sets about trying to stop the mission and tensions escalate after the information emerges that a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union would trigger the Soviet Doomsday Machine – a secret device set to self-detonate and kill all life on the planet.
British writer Armando Iannucci, whose many awards include two Emmys for his work on Veep, adapted Dr. Strangelove with Sean Foley, who directs the stage version.
