Norton excels in this accurate and ‘chilling’ depiction of the long-term effects of abuse
It’s “rare for a play to be a phenomenon before it even opens”, but A Little Life has managed that, said Sarah Crompton on What’s On Stage. The 2015 novel by Hanya Yanagihara on which it is based – about a New York lawyer whose life has been destroyed by physical and sexual abuse – is regarded with quasi-religious reverence by some (but as “trauma porn” by its detractors). And theatregoers have leapt at the chance to see Happy Valley’s James Norton on stage. Although not belonging to either fanbase, I was impressed by this long, gruelling adaptation from the acclaimed Belgian director Ivo van Hove. It is “as involving and accurate a depiction of the long-term effects of abuse as you could expect to see” – but I was left wondering “why I would want to delve so deep”.
