Further cast announced for WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT in the West End
There & Then, the new independent production company from acclaimed Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour, and award-winning director Omar Elerian, have announced further artists for Soleimanpour’s internationally acclaimed White Rabbit Red Rabbit in a celebratory 15th anniversary West End run.
The boundary-pushing play marks There & Then’s inaugural production bringing together a multitude of artists from the worlds of theatre, TV, film and comedy who will each separately take on the unknown in a weekly Monday residency at the Duchess Theatre until 2 November.
White Rabbit Red Rabbit sees a different performer take to the stage each night where they are presented with a sealed envelope. Inside is a script they have never seen before, which they will perform only once, with no rehearsal and no director. What follows is a singular, unrepeatable experience shaped entirely by how that performer embraces the unknown.
Lucian Msamati, David Tennant, and Jo Joyner have taken to the stage so far this season. Upcoming performances will see Asim Chaudhry performing on 29 June, Luke Thompson on 6 July, Jodie Whittaker on 13 July, Kathryn Hunter on 20 July, Kunal Nayyar on 27 July, Munya Chawawa on 3 August, Ginger Johnson on 10 August, Mel Giedroyc on 24 August, Adam Buxton on 7 September, Archie Madekwe on 21 September, Christopher Eccleston on 28 September, Steve Pemberton on 5 October, Nish Kumar on 19 October, and John Bradley on 26 October. New dates have also been announced for David Harewood, now performing on 17 August with extra tickets released, and Riz Ahmed now performing on 12 October.
First performed in 2011, White Rabbit Red Rabbit was written while Soleimanpour was forbidden to leave Iran. Playful, poignant and unsettling the play explores obedience, choice and freedom of expression - and the fragile contract between performer and audience. Distilling the experience of an entire generation into something bold, humane and entirely original, fifteen years on the play's questions feel as urgent as ever. To date, White Rabbit Red Rabbit has been performed over 4,000 times and translated into over 25 different languages.
Founding Director of There & Then, Nassim Soleimanpour, said: “We are all made of the stories we dare to tell, and the silences we finally give a voice. What began as a leap into the unknown with White Rabbit Red Rabbit has, through years of collaboration with Omar Elerian, become a shared theatrical language and the foundation of this new company, and we’re excited that our first production will be in association with Nica Burns and Nimax as we share this next chapter with audiences.”
Founding Director of There & Then, Omar Elerian, said: “I am extremely excited to embark on this new creative chapter in collaboration with my partner-in-crime, Nassim Soleimanpour. Together, we look forward to introducing something fresh and unconventional to the West End, confident that London audiences will embrace the exhilarating high-wire nature of our work - anchored in presence, immediacy, and a spirit of the unknown. In these fragile and uncertain times, we hope to reaffirm that risk, imagination, and the enduring power of storytelling remain among our most vital and transformative forces.”
For more info on White Rabbit Red Rabbit, please click here.
