Lazarus
The Complete Book and Lyrics
Description
Thomas Newton came to Earth seeking water for his drought-ridden planet. Years later he's still stranded here, soaked in cheap gin and haunted by a past love. But the arrival of another lost soul brings one last chance of freedom...
Inspired by the book The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis and its cult film adaptation starring David Bowie, Lazarus brings the story of Thomas Newton to its devastating conclusion.
Written by Bowie with the playwright Enda Walsh, and incorporating some of Bowie's most iconic songs, Lazarus was first performed at New York Theatre Workshop in 2015, starring Michael C. Hall and directed by Ivo Van Hove. The production transferred to London in 2016.
Reviews
“Outstanding... full of wild energy, magical effects and overwhelming music.”
- WhatsOnStage
"Enda Walsh's book is full of longing—for love, for peace, for release from earthly ties—while songs from Bowie's iconic catalogue, an astonishing legacy spanning four decades, are reimagined in a new context whilst somehow retaining the potency they once exerted during the course of a life richly lived. No jukebox musical, this… [the] entire creation is infused with the spirit, the quirkiness, the capriciousness of Bowie, and Walsh could not be more in tune with all of it.”
- The Arts Desk
“Fascinating to watch... [a] spectacular study of a pained outsider's search for peace.”
- Guardian
“Beautiful... a last transmission from a dying star.”
- Time Out
“David Bowie's parting gift to the world—and what a rare and mesmeric testament this is… it's all unforgettable. I sat rapt throughout.”
- Independent
“Captivating, tense, and emotional… shows like this don't come along very often.”
- Radio Times
“Wild, fantastical, eye-popping. A surrealistic tour de force.”
- Rolling Stone
“Blazingly original... complex, layered and riveting... sensational.”
- The Stage
“Like David Bowie himself, this is a show that defies definition. It's both all and none of a musical, a play, a gig, performance art, philosophical meditation, a fever dream, a collective trip into the unknown... strangely fascinating and fascinatingly strange.”
- Broadway World
“Gripping… [a] strangely poetic piece of music theatre… there’s nothing at all conventional about this. It is festive. Riotous. Dionysian. Wonderful.”
- BritishTheatre.com
“Ice-bolts of ecstasy shoot like novas through the fabulous muddle and murk of Lazarus, the great-sounding, great-looking and mind-numbing new musical built around songs by David Bowie.”
- New York Times