Ralph Fiennes Tackles David Hare's Powerful COVID Monologue

The Bridge Theatre makes a triumphant return after a five-month lockdown hiatus with David Hare's Beat The Devil, the centrepiece of its reopening season. Taking place in the newly reconfigured theatre, which now hosts 250 patrons in accordance with social distancing guidelines, the monologue is a searing account of the Olivier Award-winning playwright's own battles with COVID, performed by stage and screen legend Ralph Fiennes. 

Hare contracted COVID on the same day the UK government finally announced preparations for the late lockdown, during the period of time when very little was known about the virus and its effects. Racked with seemingly random symptoms, Hare's very personal monologue speaks from the heart of his illness-induced delirium, and the result is a stunning fever dream about fear, medicine, and politics.