Author Elizabeth Day and showrunner Sarah Solemani on organising The Party for ITV
ITV drama The Party is based on Elizabeth Day’s novel of the same name and written by showrunner Sarah Solemani. Speaking to DQ, they reflect on their collaboration, adapting the story for the screen and how Day reacted to seeing her characters brought to life by a cast including Luke Evans and Tom Cullen. Looking back on their shared journey making UK broadcaster ITV’s drama The Party, author Elizabeth Day and showrunner and writer Sarah Solemani share many of the same reactions. “I’m utterly giddy with delight,” Day tells DQ about seeing her own novel transformed for the small screen. “It’s an author’s dream to have their work adapted, but then to have it adapted by Sarah Solemani, who’s also starring in it, and to have this incredible cast and crew, and to see this new brilliant creative iteration, it’s utterly thrilling. I actually can’t believe it’s real. I am just unabashedly thrilled.” “It was a really profound experience. It was definitely a career highlight for me,” says Solemani. “I read the book. I found it so compelling. I found the class element particularly compelling. It’s the most enduring social power hierarchy in the Western world, if not in the world, and we were very British about it. We make jokes about it, make jokes about ourselves and each other. “The whole experience, thanks to Elizabeth’s trust and support, handing the baton to me so I could do my thing, and then handing the baton to Viviane Andereggen, who directed … Continue reading Author Elizabeth Day and showrunner Sarah Solemani on organising The Party for ITV
