A baby, a flood, and dæmons — Pullman's world floods the stage with mythic chaos.
Two young people and their dæmons, with everything at stake, find themselves at the centre of a terrifying manhunt. In their care is a tiny child called Lyra Belacqua, and in that child lies the fate of the future. And as the waters rise around them, powerful adversaries conspire for mastery of Dust: salvation to some, the source of infinite corruption to others.
Production
The flood sequence uses stagecraft that'll wreck you emotionally.
Acting
Samuel Creasey's Malcolm carries impossible weight at 11.
Direction
Amos and Van Someren make 172 minutes feel like breath-holding.
Director
Tim Van Someren
Julie Atherton
Hyena / Stelmaria (Asriel's Dæmon) / Sister Paulina
Holly Atkins
Mrs Polstead / Sister Maria Therese / Witch
Wendy Mae Brown
Mother Superior / Professor Cluny
Pip Carter
Gerard Bonneville
Samuel Creasey
Malcolm Polstead
Ella Dacres
Alice Parslow
Ayesha Dharker
Marisa Coulter
Olivia Le Andersen
Asta (Malcolm's Dæmon)
Naomi Frederick
Dr Hanna Relf
Richard James-Neale
CCD / Drunk / Gold Monkey
John Light
Lord Asriel / George Boatwright
Dearbhla Molloy
Sister Fenella / Doris Whicher
Tomi Ogbaro
Eric / CCD Man / Professor Papadimitrou
Sid Sagar
Robert Luckhurst / Jesper (Hannah's Dæmon) / Charlie Boatwright
Nick Sampson
Lord Nugent / Envoy Of The Magisterium / Headmaster
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was the first live stage adaptation of Pullman's work, performed at London's Bridge Theatre with a real onstage pool that actors actually swam in. The original book release was delayed a decade because Pullman refused to rush Lyra's origin story.
The 'Book of Dust' trilogy deliberately inverts 'His Dark Materials': where that series was about killing God, this one asks what faith looks like when institutions rot. Malcolm's working-class heroism critiques the golden child prophecy trope Pullman himself helped create with Lyra.
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