When James Norton’s play A Little Life opened in London’s West End earlier this year it totally divided critics, with reviews ranging from two to five stars.  The controversial play was a  stage adaptation of Hanya Yanagihara’s hugely popular and Booker-nominated novel of the same name.

However, the relentless trauma featured in the play, which includes scenes of self-harm and sexual abuse, put many critics off.   So, on one hand, Variety Magazine praised Norton’s dedicated performance whilst the Financial Times declared the play ‘deeply disturbing’

36 Brit actor Norton, best known for roles in  television series such as  Happy Valley,  Grantchester,  War & Peace , plays A Little Life’s protagonist Jude – a character who self-harms after suffering unrelenting abuse as a child. It didn’t deter critic  Neil Norman in The Daly Express who awarded the show five stars and described it as “utterly compelling”.

“This is industrial strength theatre for serious theatregoers,” Norman wrote  “Norton’s courageous performance makes Jude’s torment almost Biblical in this shattering indictment of paedophilia and the physical and psychological scars that result.”

Soob we will be able to tell for ourselves as the play was filmed across four performances at the Savoy Theatre between 6 and 9 July.  The Cast also includes Luke Thompson (Bridgerton) as Willem, Omari Douglas (Cabaret) as JB, Zach Wyatt (The Witcher) as Malcolm, Elliot Cowan (The Crown) as Brother Luke/Doctor Traylor/Caleb, Zubin Varla (Tammy Faye) as Harold,  Nathalie Armin (Force Majeure) as Ana, and Emilio Doorgasingh (Best of Enemies) as Andy.