Dr Strangelove – Noël Coward Theatre, London

Writers: Armando Iannucci and Sean Foley

Director: Sean Foley

Armando Iannucci and Sean Foley’s adaptation of 1960s satirical movie Dr Strangelove finally arrives at the Noël Coward Theatre, and this fast-paced stage show manages to capture some of the scale of Stanley Kubrick’s original film starring Peter Sellers. With a grandiose set design by Hildegarde Bechtler that features military bases, a giant Presidential conference table, the cockpit of a plane and a “big board,” this sense of spectacle and Steve Coogan’s quite remarkable central performance in his stage debut make up for some of the pacing issues and hit-and-miss humour.

When the unhinged General Ripper launches a major bombing raid against Russia and refuses to reveal the three-letter code to call off the attack, a race against time begins involving a British RAF officer negotiating with the General, a crisis committee at the White House and a plane crew deciding to fly under the radar to complete their mission. But Russia is not entirely undefended, and the last line of defence, the “Doomsday Machine,” is ready to be triggered.

Iannucci and Foley’s faithful adaptation doesn’t waste much time on the whys and wherefores; it doesn’t look to expand on character motivation or why General Ripper chooses this moment to unleash his crazed mission but remains entirely focused on plot and humour, developing a farcical pace that occasionally feels chaotic but delivers dramatic moments and plenty of escalating paranoia. The scenario is more successful than the jokes; the idea of men drunk on power and refusing to relinquish command is an evergreen topic for satire and tragedy, and within that, there are some sharp lines, although it is never consistently hilarious.

All the joy of the production is in the scale that Bechtler creates, which is rich in 1960s design and hugely enjoyable. You will marvel at Bechtler’s endless ingenuity in the combination of flexible physical set pieces that can be rapidly rearranged with high-concept video, including the board showing the progress of the US bombers. When the corrugated curtains open on Act Two, the stage is filled by a huge aeroplane whose tail is represented on screen. It’s slightly off-centre, but this is theatrical craftsmanship that you rarely see outside the National Theatre.

At the centre of this is a genuinely brilliant performance from Coogan, playing four separate characters who sometimes has to be substituted by a double to facilitate a costume change. The technical precision and timing across only two hours of performance are impressive, but Coogan places each of his roles on a sliding scale of personality, introducing increasing degrees of eccentricity as he jumps from a British RAF officer to the American President to Dr Strangelove and finally a gung-ho cowboy pilot. And although it would be tempting to throw everything into each one, Coogan is restrained in performance, saving the cartoony extremes for later characters in what is a demanding and very precisely calibrated suite of performances.

Around him, there are particularly strong performances from Giles Terera as General Turgidson who plays it straight and lets the comedy come to him, and from Tony Jayawardena as the Russian ambassador. In a play with no women and a few throwaway lines about their irrelevance, it feels like a conscious decision not to cast some in male roles. As director, Foley also lets the actors spend too much time seated at the back of the stage behind a table, sometimes making sight lines difficult, but the cast is clearly having a great time, and for the most part, thanks to Bechtler’s vision and Coogan’s performance, the audience is too.

Runs until 25 January 2024