London, Ont. Grand Theatre to host North American stage premiere of Room

The Grand Theatre inLondon, Ont., will host the North American stage premiere of Room, the hugely successful work by author Emma Donoghue.

The Grand Theatre is partnering for the first time with Canada's largest theatre company, Mirvish Productions, from Toronto.

Room wasfirst released as a novel in 2010 and thenadapted into a movie in 2015. Two years later, it was put on as a play in England. It is that adaptation that will be workshoppedat the Grand Theatre before being performed in March of2020.

"I couldn't be more excited," said Donoghue. "I wrote this book in London, and the library, at the YMCA, in every room in London while I had a bit of time. I'm thrilled to see how it changes with each incarnation."

After its run in London,the play will be performed in Toronto at one of the Mirvish theatres.

Roomfollows the story of a mother and her son who are held captive by a man. The story is told from the perspective of the boy.

"We've all heard of Room. You may have read the book or you may have watched the movie, but we are literally putting a new face on it," said Dennis Garnhum, the artistic director of the Grand Theatre.

"We are playing to the work's strengths. It's about a woman and her son, making stuff up. It's a theatre of poverty. It's a pair of prisoners trying to make their life meaningful and ritualized through repetition and play. That's theatre."

Garnhum said workshops will work with atheatrical production put on in England, expanding it and making it "stronger and clearer." Donoghue, as well as the director and producer from England, will take part in the workshops.

"What drew me to this is that, the idea is there, the originality is there. It makes your imagination explode with what you're seeing. It's a reminder of the power of theatre. It's a story we can all relate to," he said.