The stage adaptation of The Hunger Games is now set to premiere this fall in London.
The adaptation, based on Suzanne Collins’ first book and the Lionsgate motion picture, is set to begin performances Oct. 20, 2025 at the Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre. The 1,200-seat venue was specifically built to house the production.
The play was adapted for the stage by Conor McPherson, the award-winning playwright of The Weir, Shining City and The Seafarer, and will be directed by Matthew Dunster (2:22 – A Ghost Story, Hangmen, The Pillowman),
The show is set to come to London after previous plans to open the show in 2016 and in fall 2024. Tickets go on sale March 27.
The adaptation comes to the stage after the film franchise, which encompasses five books, has grossed more than $3.4 billion at the worldwide box office. Collins’ is set to publish a new book, Sunrise on the Reaping, on March 18, 2025 and Lionsgate’s film adaptation of that book is scheduled to be released Nov. 20, 2026. This will be the latest popular onscreen franchise to make it to the stage, following adaptations such as Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Stranger Things: The First Shadow.
“I’m thrilled that The Hunger Games is in the hands of gifted playwright Conor McPherson and accomplished director Matthew Dunster. Connor has done a fantastic adaptation, which is quite unique from the screenplay. And Matthew’s immersive, dynamic staging gives the audience a brand-new way to experience the story,” Collins said.
The team has been workshopping the play for more than a year. In a behind-the-scenes video, which shows actors flying through the air and fighting up the walls, members of the creative team said audience members will be close to the action in the new theater, with the cast coming “out into the auditorium and be fighting within a meter of us.”
“Conor McPherson lifts the detail and power from the book and film and has provided us with the kind of taut and dangerous play he is renowned for. He honours the young voice of Katniss Everdeen and puts her front and centre. We’ve been workshopping the play for over a year with our world class creative team; carefully honing our theatrical vocabulary because we want to bring audiences something as impactful and edgy as Suzanne Collins’ novel and as passionate and exciting as the movie. But we are going to do it in our own way – in the theatre. We want our Hunger Games to be uniquely, thrillingly theatrical,” Dunster said.
The creative team includes set designer Miriam Buether, costume designer Moi Tran, choreographer Charlotte Broom, lighting designer Lucy Carter, sound designer Ian Dickinson for Autograph, video designer Tal Rosner, illusions by Chris Fisher and fight direction by Kev McCurdy.
Producers of The Hunger Games play include Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, Oliver Royds for BOS Productions and Isobel David by arrangement with Lionsgate.