Curious Case of Benjamin Button Musical Sets World Premiere with Southwark Playhouse

A new musical based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has scheduled a world premiere production with Southwark Playhouse. Book writer Jethro Compton (Wolf's Blood) will direct the London production, set to run from May 15 through June 8.

The musical follows Benjamin Button, born as an old man, not at the end of his life, but at the beginning. Trapped in a body where he doesn't belong, Benjamin dreams of freedom and adventure. Just as he gives up hope, a miracle occurs—a local girl, by the name of Elowen Keene. As the decades pass, their lives begin to move in reverse, and when war calls Benjamin across the seas, time is not their only enemy.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button features music, lyrics and music direction by Darren Clark (The Wicker Husband), with Cornish translation by Pol Hodge (Bitter Sweet).

The ensemble cast will include Matthew Burns (The Wind in the Willows), Rosalind Ford (Mother Courage and Her Children), Joey Hickman (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Philippa Hogg (Alice's Adventures Underground) and James Marlowe (The Bunker Trilogy).

The production will feature stage and lighting design by Schönlatern, costume design by Cecilia Trono, sound design by Juan Coolio and puppetry by In the Bellows.

In 2008, Fitzgerald's short story was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton. Look back at the motion picture below.