(Dominic Cavendish’s article appeared in the Telegraph, 7/19.)
Daniel Radcliffe and Edward Snowden in the same show – what miracle of coup-casting is that?! One of the most famous young actors in the world and America’s most wanted whistle-blower. The former there in the flesh, pale and interesting and blinking in a way that puts you in mind of a certain boy wizard. The latter, even paler and more tired-looking, popping up on screen in a pre-recorded segment, presumably achieved via a subversive Russian link-up.
Short of recruiting Julian Assange to tap-dance in a negligée, Josie Rourke, artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, could hardly have applied more headline-grabbing, head-turning panache to this new, souped-up, New York-friendly version of her and James Graham’s techno-savvy play, first seen in 2014, now mounted in a co-production between the Donmar and the Public Theater, which is all about privacy.
Though Radcliffe plays a fictionalised version of Graham, trying to find someone to trust (and love) in a world of constant surveillance – which he tries to find out more about, consulting boffins and experts galore – it takes no genius to spot links between the actor’s intensely scrutinised life and the way our own, ordinary activities are increasingly tracked.