New Brokeback Mountain Play Stars Lucas Hedges and Mike Faist
Brokeback Mountain touched readers as a short story and moved audiences as an Oscar-winning film. Soon, that story will be able to affect audiences in the form of a new play.
The story will have a theater adaptation and premiere at @sohoplace Theater on West End in London. The production will star Oscar nominee Lucas Hedges as Ennis Del Mar and Tony nominee Mike Faist as Jack Twist. The play will begin on May 10 and will run for twelve weeks. It is being described as a “play with music” and will be more of an adaptation of the short story than an adaptation of the film.
Just announced, Brokeback Mountain! This world premiere stage adaptation stars Mike Faist and Lucas Hedges in their West End debuts, script by Ashley Robinson, songs by @DanGSells
— @sohoplace (@sohoplacelondon) March 20, 2023
and directed by Jonathan Butterell. Playing from 10 May-12 August
Book now:https://t.co/UvfKXlGG2t pic.twitter.com/3YZS2vXIRS
Brokeback Mountain centers around two cowboys, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, who meet working on a ranch one summer. After a passionate night together, the two begin a relationship that continues for years. They each separately get married to other women, but their relationship blossoms simultaneously. As the years go on, this becomes more of a struggle. Jack wants them to commit to each other fully, but Ennis cannot do that. Their lives may evolve and face very bumps, but the two always find their way back to each other.
Heath Ledger’s response to homophobia at a Brokeback Mountain press conference. pic.twitter.com/HP5SenxwS5
— Eric Alper 🎧 (@ThatEricAlper) March 18, 2023
Author Anne Proulx wrote the original short story for The New Yorker. Her story received many accolades, including The National Magazine Award for fiction. Screenwriters Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry decided to turn the story into a film. This film’s director was Oscar winner Ang Lee and starred Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. At the Oscars, the film won Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score. When Brokeback Mountain lost Best Picture to Crash, audiences considered that to be one of the greatest upsets in Oscar history.
lucas hedges we’ve missed you https://t.co/6h1j2dDSzU pic.twitter.com/DhncNFCdOE
— david (@Ioversdiscourse) March 20, 2023
Hedges had his big break in Manchester by the Sea. That break earned him his first Oscar nomination. The following year, he was in two Best Picture nominees, Lady Bird and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri. In 2018, he starred in Ben is Back and Boy Erased, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. Peter Hedges, Lucas’s father, was the director of Ben is Back. Hedges also made his Broadway debut in 2018 in The Waverly Gallery. Other notable credits include Honey Boy, Waves, Mid90s, French Exit, and Let Them All Talk. His first trip to the West End is sure to show off his emotional acting chops.
I’m broke as shit rn but you better believe I will be stowing away on a ship to London to see Mike Faist make his West End debut https://t.co/BqHV85PLGm pic.twitter.com/v2g0TKIL8i
— Zoë Rose Bryant (@ZoeRoseBryant) March 20, 2023
Faist is no stranger to theater. He made his Broadway debut with the original cast of Newsies in 2012. He then got his big break in Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway, which led to his first Tony nomination. Faist was also in the 2021 remake of the classic musical film West Side Story, which is how he got a BAFTA nomination. That same year, he also garnered some media buzz for his leading role in the mini-series Panic. He will soon appear in the film Challengers by Luca Guadagnino alongside Zendaya and Josh O’Connor. Faist has not been in theater for a while, so this will be a great return.
i’m literally about to be the most annoying person on the planet as a mike faist and lucas hedges enthusiast pic.twitter.com/bJmViPl2Yn
— bubs (@timmysmedicine) March 20, 2023
Along with the announcement of this play, the production released a poster advertising this play. It shows Hedges and Faist dressed in old Western clothes, looking sad and forlorn. Ashley Robinson wrote the play with songs by Dan Gillespie Sells. The director of the play is Jonathan Butterell. Additional crew members include costume design from Tom Pye, sound from Christopher Stutt, and lighting from David Finn. There will be more casting announcements in the coming weeks. The production has many one-of-a-kind aspects, and with the two talented actors at the forefront, it can be sure that this play will fill many seats.
