Duchess Theatre, London
Running time: 65mins
Age Restrictions: This production is recommended for ages 14+
Tickets from £31.00
What happens when no one knows what comes next?
Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour’s internationally acclaimed theatrical experiment White Rabbit Red Rabbit returns to London to celebrate its 15th anniversary, with a fresh lineup of celebrated actors, including David Tennant, Riz Ahmed, and Kathryn Hunter already confirmed, and more to be announced.
Since its premiere in 2011, White Rabbit Red Rabbit has been translated into more than 30 languages and performed over 3,000 times by some of the most celebrated names in theatre and film. Fifteen years on, its questions feel as urgent as ever and the play continues to captivate audiences around the world, inviting a different performer each night to encounter the script for the very first time in front of an audience.
Each performance begins with an envelope. Inside is a script the actor has never seen, that they must perform without rehearsal or a director. The play unfolds live, shaped entirely by how the author’s words compel that evening’s performer to respond. Each night brings a new energy as the actor steps into the unknown, creating a singular, unrepeatable theatrical experience.
Forbidden to leave his country at the time of writing, Soleimanpour distilled the experience of an entire generation into a work that is utterly original. At once playful, poignant, and unsettling, White Rabbit Red Rabbit asks questions about obedience, choice, and freedom of expression.
The result is a play that is as much about contemporary Iran as it is about power, complicity, and the fragile contract between performer and audience - anywhere in the world.
Previous performers have included Lucian Msamati, David Tennant, Jo Joyner, Asim Chaudhry, Luke Thompson and Jodie Whittaker, Kathryn Hunter and Kunal Nayyar.
White Rabbit Red Rabbit features a different performer every night - each performance is genuinely unique. While we programme named artists in good faith - and cancellations are rare - in the event that circumstances dictate a change in performer, we are unable to offer refunds or exchanges. If a performance is cancelled in its entirety, a full refund will be offered.
Duchess Theatre
Duchess Theatre
3-5 Catherine Street
London
WC2B 5LA
The Duchess Theatre is a theatre in London's West End. The theatre opened on 25th November, 1929 and is one of the smallest ''proscenium arched'' West End theatres. It has 479 seats on two levels.
Notable productions at The Duchess Theatre include Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, which transferred from the Piccadilly Theatre to the St. James Theatre before moving to the Duchess Theatre where it completed a record run of 1,997 performances in 1942. Tom Eyen's The Dirtiest Show in Town, which ran for just under 800 performances in the 1970s. Oh! Calcutta! transferred to The Duchess Theatre from the Royalty Theatre in December 1974, and remained there until 1980.
The Players Theatre Company presented their Late Joys Victorian Music Hall programme between 1987 and 1990 Marc Camoletti's Don't Dress For Dinner, which transferred to the Duchess from the Apollo Theatre in October 1992 and stayed until 1st March, 1997.
The Royal Shakespeare Company's The Herbal Bed by Peter Whelan ran for six months from April to October 1997.
Travel by train: Charing Cross. Nearest tube: Covent Garden
