west end premiere

Grantchester and Happy Valley star James Norton returns to the West End, leading an all-star cast including Luke Thompson (Bridgerton), Omari Douglas (It's A Sin), and Zach Wyatt (The Witcher) in this emotional rollercoaster adaptation of Hanya Yanagihara's bestselling novel. 

Directed by multi-award-winning Ivo Van Hove, A Little Life explores the long-term effects of child abuse and if love is enough to abate lifelong trauma. First seen in a four-hour version in Dutch at 2022's Edinburgh international festival, this production marks the first English language staging of what critics called a"mesmerising adaptation" that "unpicks privilege, abuse, and psychological damage." Van Hove calls it; "a rollercoaster of emotions: it's heartbreaking, hard, emotional, sweet, tender, about friendship and sexuality and its importance in your life. It's a masterpiece and I'm blessed that I'm the only one in the world who got the rights."

What is the story?

A Little Life follows four college friends living in New York. With lawyer Jude (Norton) as their North Star, the group navigates life in the city and the evils of pride, ambition, and addiction that come with trying to make it. But despite their conflicting currents, they're always drawn back to the universally beloved Jude and the mysteries of his past, seeking to soothe his simmering self-hatred with a balm of love.