Lewis Den Hertog Archives - North West End UK

In a small Midwest American town there is a strange phenomenon happening. Researchers have arrived to observe a group of people transfixed on a prophecy “that the world is ending and that they alone know the truth” on how to save humanity. This story is based on a 1956 book by social psychologists Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken and Stanley Schachter. In ‘their’ world of UFO’s sightings and religious belief systems their leader Marian convinces the group that the world would be destroyed by a catastrophic flood in December. When this prediction did not happen instead of believing the failure the opposing view grew into a committed sense of greater belief. A true concept of cognitive dissonance when a group of people’s beliefs conflict with reality. You would not be wrong in thinkin...

Katori Hall’s magnificent, beautifully written play is set the night before the assassination of the American civil rights leader, Dr Martin Luther King jnr, in 1968. The production is directed powerfully and vibrantly by Rikki Henry. Occasionally the actors were in danger of being upstaged by the fabulous set and sound effects. And the pace in the first half of the play was at times a little too frantic. But this was a breathtakingly inspiring production by Henry. The play takes place in a motel room in Memphis shortly after King had made his last speech, ‘I’ve been to the Mountaintop’ in which he declared: “I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you t...

Tag: Lewis Den Hertog

When Prophecy Fails – Studio Theatre

The Mountaintop – The Royal Lyceum Theatre