Sex Education star Asa Butterfield is making his stage debut this January in new play Second Best.
Second Best will premiere at the Riverside Studios in London, running from 24 January to 22 February 2025.
The new play is written by Barney Norris (Visitors), based on David Foenkinos’s internationally best-selling novel, and directed by former Donmar Warehouse artistic director Michael Longhurst (Next to Normal).
In the play, Asa Butterfield stars as Martin Hill. As a ten year old, Martin was on the brink of stardom – down to the final two for the role of Harry Potter, but narrowly missing out.
Now an adult, Martin is about to embark on the ultimate adventure – fatherhood. Navigating this whirlwind of emotions, he’s also pulled back to that pivotal moment in his past as he struggles to move beyond imagining what his life might have been.
Actor Asa Butterfield said in a statement:“It’s equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, a universal tale of ‘what ifs’, and I can’t wait to bring it to life on stage for the very first time.”
Producer Simon Friend said: “I read David Foenkinos’ wonderful novel when it was published last year, and it immediately cried out to be told on stage. It’s a coming-of-age story of success and failure, love and loss, and fathers and sons – as well as the universal experience of plans going awry. We’re incredibly excited about the incomparable Asa Butterfield making his stage debut in Barney Norris’ wonderfully funny and moving adaptation of the novel, with Michael Longhurst directing. A team of artists who are most definitely not second best.”
Asa Butterfield is a rising star on screen, having played the lead role of Otis Milburn in hit Netflix drama Sex Education. His other screen credits include movies Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Tim Burton, and Ender’s Game, directed by Gavin Hood. His recent projects include Greed, directed by Michael Winterbottom, Choose or Die, directed by Toby Meakins, and All Fun and Games, directed by Eren Celeboglu and Ari Costa.
Barney Norris is an award winning playwright and novelist. His plays include Visitors, Every You Every Me, Eventide, Echo’s End, While We’re Here, Nightfall, We Started To Sing, A Stranger Comes To Town and The Band Back Together. Barney has won a number of writing awards including the Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright for Visitors, and a South Bank Sky Arts Times Breakthrough Award for Literature.
Video: Watch a behind-the-scenes trailer for Second Best starring Asa Butterfield
Award-winning director Michael Longhurst is the former Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse. His recent production of musical Next to Normal was a success at the Donmar and completed a West End run last week. His other Donmar productions included Keeley Hawes in The Human Body, The Band’s Visit, Rory Kinnear in Force Majeure, and Nick Payne’s Constellations. His other productions include Caroline, or Change (Chichester, West End, Broadway) starring Sharon D Clarke, Amadeus at the National Theatre, A Number at the Young Vic and Between Riverside and Crazy at Hampstead Theatre.
Joining Michael Longhurst in the creative team will be Set and costume designer Fly Davis, with further creatives to be announced.
Produced by Simon Friend Entertainment, Second Best is playing at the Riverside Studios in London from 24 January to 22 February 2025.
Book tickets to Second Best at Riverside Studios London
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