A Very Expensive Poison Tickets
WORLD PREMIERE. By Lucy Prebble, based on the Book by Luke Harding.
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A new play by Lucy Prebble (who wrote Enron, The Effect and The Sugar Syndrome) is always something to look forward to. In the wake of the Salisbury Novichok poisonings, this account of a previous poisoning is based on Luke Harding’s book about the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, who in November 2006 was poisoned by the radioactive substance Polonium in London after making enemies in Russia at the highest level. Harding’s thoroughly researched book has been compared to a real-life John LeCarre thriller and Prebble should make it gripping in a production that shines a spotlight on the shadowy world of international espionage.
Lucy Prebble is one of the UK’s best playwrights. She made her mark on the industry with a string of intelligent plays exploring a variety of contemporary issues. The Sugar Syndrome poked around the dark corners of the web; following the Great Recession, Enron satirised the fraud at the heart of American business; and The Effect examined the connections between neuroscience, love and depression. Now, with the Russian government’s 2018 attempted murder of Sergei Skripal still fresh in people’s memories, Prebble is revisiting the story of Alexander Litvinenko. The production takes a few creative risks, with critics responding with a mix of 3, 4 and 5 star reviews.
About A Very Expensive Poison
A modern-day assassination in the heart of London. In the strange coming together of high-stakes global politics and radioactive villainy, a man pays with his life. At this time of unnerving global crises and rumblings of a new Cold War, A Very Expensive Poison sends us careering through the shadowy world of international espionage from the townhouses of Fitzrovia to the brothels of Soho. With dazzling inventiveness, Lucy Prebble (The Effect, ENRON) reimagines Luke Harding’s jaw-dropping exposé of the events behind the tragic death of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.