Director Danny Boyle will stage a series of monologues at the Royal Court next month, dramatising the testimonies of children growing up in rural South Africa.
Titled the Children’s Monologues, they’ll be performed by an all-star cast including James McAvoy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kit Harington, Josh Hartnett, Christopher Eccleston, Zawe Ashton and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Boyle, director of films including Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire, was inspired to stage the monologues after visiting Rammulotsi, a small rural township in the Free State province of South Africa.
He invited 15 local children to retell personal experiences in their native Sesotho language. The testimonies then provided the basis for monologues written by playwrights including David Hare, Neil LaBute, James Graham, Laura Wade, Jack Thorne, Roy Williams and Tanika Gupta.
According to press material:
While some monologues capture moments of childish joy and wonder, many stories tell of desperate circumstances: what it is like to watch their parents die because of inadequate medical treatment, discover their mother has been gang raped and burned alive, and succumb to xenophobia they once despised.
Together they provide a deeply intimate and uncompromising insight into the lives of children facing extremely difficult realities.
Boyle will “fuse live theatre, hip hop music, classical piano from James Rhodes and documentary footage” in order to create an “immersive mashup”.
The performance on 25 October 2015 will be held in aid of Boyle’s arts charity Dramatic Need.
Game of Thrones star Kit Harington said: “To be able to tell the stories of impoverished children from the other side of the world, which they themselves have penned, is a unique and important experience that I couldn’t possibly turn down.
“Dramatic Need is an incredibly special cause and will produce a night of charity and theatre which should be daring, moving and an experience not to forget.”