The Young Vic has announced the full company of readers for the UK premiere of Milo Rau and Servane Dècle’s The Pelicot Trial, a profoundly affecting piece of documentary theatre presented across four and a half hours at London County Hall on 30 November.
The special one-off event will be live-streamed worldwide for the duration of the performance to ensure as many people as possible can access this tribute to an ordinary woman who sparked a global reckoning, opening the way for change. Tickets for the production have now sold out, however, the live-stream will be free to access via the Young Vic YouTube channel on 30 November between 6-10.30pm.
Brian Cox, Lindsay Duncan, Misan Harriman, Suzy Eddie Izzard, Lennie James, Baroness Helena Kennedy, George MacKay, Tobias Menzies, Ambika Mod, John Simm, Indira Varma, Ellie Wilson, Kate Winslet and Harriet Wistrich complete the company of 30 artists and public figures who will take part in this one-off special event. The performance also features Countertenor Hugh Cutting. They join the previously announced readers Adjoa Andoh, Nicole Ansari-Cox, Lorraine Ashbourne, Leo Bill, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Alfred Enoch, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Rosie Jones, Kadiff Kirwan, Rosie O'Donnell, Tamzin Outhwaite, Jordan Stephens, Juliet Stevenson, Samuel West and Olivia Williams.
The Pelicot trial is undoubtedly the most publicised, discussed, and symbolic of our time. As a sociological study it shows that in a typical Western European city - the small town of Mazan in the south of France - perfectly ordinary men from all social classes and age groups are capable of perhaps the most extreme crime: the repeated rape of an unconscious woman. “Shame has to change sides.” Through these words and her decision to make her trial public, Gisèle Pelicot has become a symbol of resilience and the fight against sexual violence.
Comprised of testimonies and written accounts from the trail, police files, social commentary and psychiatric reports of the 51 men who were prosecuted as part of Gisèle Pelicot’s case this special performance forms an urgent statement on the prevalence of sexual violence and its legal treatment. The play, which was developed in collaboration with journalists, anthropologists, and local feminist organisations in France, received its world premiere at the Vienna Festival and has toured internationally to cities including Avignon, New York, Lisbon, Milan, and Bergen performed by a different company in each city for one night only.
