Antony Sher's enthralling account of the struggle - and the triumph - of bringing Primo Levi's Auschwitz memoir to the stage The National Theatre's current production of Primo, starring Antony Sher, who also made the adaptation, sold right out even before tickets went on sale to the general public. The one-man show, directed by Richard 'One Foot in the Grave' Wilson, was greeted with universal critical acclaim when it opened on 30 September 2004. Antony Sher's incarnation of a middle-aged Primo Levi recounting his years in Auschwitz was hailed as one of the most remarkable performances of recent years. In Primo, Sher tells of how he first came across Primo Levi's book, If This is a Man, of how he conceived the notion of adapting it for the stage, and of the long-drawn-out negotiations with Primo Levi's widow and children, who, like Levi himself, were adamantly opposed to any attempt to recreate Auschwitz or impersonate its inmates. He tells of research trips, accompanied by director Richard Wilson, to Auschwitz and to Turin, where Levi was born and lived all his life apart from his enforced spell in the camps. And he tells of the struggle to stage his adaptation and remain true both to the book and to Levi's precepts.