Court’s Now or Later Lives up to Title???

We’re glad to see that Now or Later has not only completed its cast – led by Eddie Redmayne and Matthew Marsh – but has at last settled on a press night too (See Today’s News). The new play by American Christopher Shinn receives its world premiere at the Royal Court next month (See News, 12 Jun 2008), but during a flurry of emails from the theatre’s press officer last week, the date for opening night kept changing.

The good folk at the Court were trying to avoid clashes in one of the season’s busiest weeks. Now or Later was originally scheduled to press on Tuesday 9 September, but that put it up against the West End transfer of Eurovision spoof musical Eurobeat (See News, 13 May 2008), and, announced after the Court’s season launch, the screen-to-stage adaptation of Rain Man starring Hollywood’s Josh Hartnett (See News, 1 Jul 2008).

The first date-change email from the Court delayed Now or Later by two days until Thursday the 11th. But that meant it stepped on the toes of the National Theatre of Scotland, which has its London premiere – following initial dates at next month’s Edinburgh International Festival – for David Harrower’s 365 (See News, 24 Apr 2008). After another flip-flop, the Court evidently decided the NTS head-to-head was the lesser of two evils – most first-string critics will, after all, have caught 365 in Edinburgh.

Hats off to the Royal Court’s press officer who saw the humour in the confusion. In his “final” date-change email, he joked: “I’d like to say this was all a stunt to complement the name of the show, but it’s not. Hopefully this will be the third, and last, change.”