Greenwich Theatre and The New Diorama Theatre is creating the first theatrical adaptation of George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London in more than 30 years.

The show – performed by the Diorama’s award-winning Pit Theatre Group - will fill the early evening slot from August 5 at the prestigious Pleasance Theatre during the Edinburgh Festival.

“It was Orwell’s first book and it’s full of wonderful anecdotes about the people he met when he was living rough as well as having a very severe political and social message that’s particularly resonant today,” said 31-year-old writer/director David Byrne, The New Diorama’s Artistic & Executive Director. “I’ve wanted to do it for a very long time, having read Down and Out when I was pretty much on the breadline myself. I think a lot of people struggling in their early 20s feel like Orwell did, especially when you’re working in the arts without much support."

David has written the script and the cast will work and improvise the language around it. “We’ve got a wonderful actor, Richard Delaney, to play Orwell,” he said. 

“The script is going really well. We’ve got a good track record but I think this is going to be by far our best production. I think it’s got the potential to be really special.”

The show will probably preview at The New Diorama before Edinburgh then return there before going on tour and arriving at Greenwich Theatre early next year.

“We share a real affinity and a great reciprocal relationship with Greenwich Theatre,” said David. “Companies like The Faction and Idle Motion started here before going to Greenwich. Both theatres have a passion for discovering emerging theatre companies, and it’s a joy for us to go to a beautiful and much-loved theatre.”

James Haddrell, Greenwich Theatre’s executive and artistic director, said: “I see so many shows at theatres around London and around the UK, constantly searching for new productions to bring to Greenwich Theatre, and a few years ago I found that I was consistently going to The New Diorama, maybe every fortnight, sometimes every week. The work there is always of an exceptional quality, so I arranged to meet David. Two years ago we co-produced Kubrick3 about a man who spent years pretending to be Stanley Kubrick. We took that show to Edinburgh and it worked very well.

“The way theatres run now, with less funding year on year, we’re always looking for partners to make projects work, and The New Diorama has become a regular partner because they share virtually the same artistic mission as us.”

To find out more visit the Greenwich Theatre website.