
Touching the Void
4.1 (14) · Contemporary Drama
Touching The Void is set to head to the Duke of York's Theatre this autumn for its long-awaited West End premiere.
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Overview
Following its sell-out world-premiere in 2018, “Tom Morris’ most accomplished project since War Horse” (The Telegraph) transfers to London.
What happens when you look death squarely in the face and how do you find the strength to crawl back towards life?
Joe Simpson’s best-selling memoir, turned BAFTA-winning film, charts his struggle for survival in the Andes in 1985. The heart of the story is Joe Simpson’s mental battle as he teeters on the brink of death and despair in a crevasse from which he can’t possibly climb to safety.
Alongside this is the appalling dilemma of Simon Yates, perched on an unstable snow-cliff, battered by freezing winds and desperate to rescue his injured climbing partner who hangs from a rope below him.
Critic reviews
Real-life story of man left for dead on mountain leaves you breathless
A white-knuckle adaptation to take you to the top of the world
Gripping journey into the mind of a survivor
Strikingly designed and excruciatingly tense staging of Joe Simpson's mountaineering memoir
Considering the hardship of bringing such an untheatrical story to the West End, the overall result is actually commendable
An admirable feat of ingenuity
A penetrating portrayal of the impulse of human survival, against the odds
David Greig's much-lauded mountaineering story doesn't quite peak
David Greig finds humour amid the horror in this triumphant stage adaptation of the mountaineering memoir
It's a work with flaws but it also contains the most visceral 15 minutes of theatre you will likely see this year
The scenes seem clichéd and contrived
While there are certainly flaws to Touching the Void they don’t deduct the essential power of this incredible story
A truly inspiring story about the limitless depths of human bravery
Gripping and exciting account of true events on the Peruvian Andes