The National Theatre are updating one of the oldest morality plays in English
Image: National Theatre
No one knows who wrote it, and it’s constantly overshadowed by its more famous counterpart – John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress – but The Summoning of Everyman is one of the best morality plays in the English language (or should that be Middle English language…) It might be filled with Christian allegory, but even in today’s secular society its lesson that we alone are responsible for our own actions is resonant, so it’s no wonder that it’s been updated and given a shiny 21st Century makeover by the National Theatre.
NT Live’s latest production has been adapted by poet laureate Carol Anne Duffy and given an amazing score by Javier Du Frutos. It also stars Academy Award winner Chitewel Ejiofor as the titular Everyman, forced to abandon his highly successful life when Death comes knocking at his door. With such a wealth of talent behind it, one of the oldest plays in English will no doubt reach a whole new audience and provide a thought-provoking examination on life, death and everything in-between.
