A Little Life: James Norton to star in English-language stage premiere of mammoth novel in West End

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy James Norton will star in Ivo van Hove’s stage production of A Little Life in the West End. The hugely popular novel by Hanya Yanagihara, known for its hard-hitting and “traumatic” subject matter, was first adapted for the theatre by Koen Tachelet in 2018 with the author’s help. Yanagihara described the adaptation as “a singular production, unlike anything I’ve seen before on stage”, adding: “I hope audiences will be as transported and astonished as I was.” open image in gallery Author Hanya Yanagihara Van Hove said: “It’s a joy to be returning to the London stage, to a community that has made us feel so welcome, and especially to be bringing Hanya’s incredible novel A Little Life to the stage in the English language for the first time – quite genuinely a dream come true.” A Little Life became a surprise worldwide hit when the book was released in 2015, given its 814-page length and troubling subject matter. In a 2015 review, The Independent’s James Kidd wrote how every page was “saturated with trauma: child abuse, rape, domestic violence, dysfunctional families, addiction, self-harm, suicide, grief”.