Imagine walking on stage in front of a packed West End house, being handed a sealed envelope, and performing a script you have never read — once, with no rehearsal and no director. That nerve-shredding premise is the whole point of White Rabbit Red Rabbit, the internationally acclaimed theatrical experiment now celebrating its 15th anniversary with a starry Monday-night residency at the Duchess Theatre — and a fresh wave of famous names has just been announced.
Newly confirmed performers include Mel Giedroyc, Christopher Eccleston, Munya Chawawa, Steve Pemberton, Nish Kumar, Adam Buxton, John Bradley and Ginger Johnson. They join a line-up already boasting David Harewood, Asim Chaudhry, Jodie Whittaker, Riz Ahmed, Luke Thompson and Archie Madekwe — a genuine who’s-who of British theatre, television, film and comedy, each stepping into the unknown for one night only.
The rules are gloriously simple, and slightly terrifying. A different performer takes to the stage each night and opens that sealed envelope to find a script they have never seen. They perform it cold — no preparation, no second take — and what unfolds is a singular, unrepeatable evening shaped entirely by how that one actor meets the moment. It is theatre on a high wire, with no safety net.
The play behind the experiment has a remarkable backstory. White Rabbit Red Rabbit was written in 2011 by the Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour while he was forbidden to leave Iran — the script itself became his way of travelling the world in his place. By turns playful, poignant and unsettling, it probes obedience, choice and freedom of expression, and the fragile contract between a performer and their audience. Fifteen years on, it has been staged more than 4,000 times and translated into over 25 languages, making it one of the most influential plays of the 21st century.
The run is the inaugural production of There & Then, a new company founded in 2026 by Soleimanpour and the award-winning director Omar Elerian, presented in association with West End impresario Nica Burns. Born of a decade-long collaboration that includes ECHO at the Royal Court and NASSIM at the Bush Theatre, the pair specialise in their signature “cold-reads” — unpredictable, immediate theatre rooted firmly in the present.
“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.”
Nassim Soleimanpour, Founding Director of There & Then
“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.”
Omar Elerian, Founding Director of There & Then
Performances so far this season have featured Lucian Msamati, David Tennant and Jo Joyner. The full line-up of upcoming Monday nights runs as follows:
- 29 June — Asim Chaudhry
- 6 July — Luke Thompson
- 13 July — Jodie Whittaker
- 20 July — Kathryn Hunter
- 27 July — Kunal Nayyar
- 3 August — Munya Chawawa
- 10 August — Ginger Johnson
- 17 August — David Harewood
- 24 August — Mel Giedroyc
- 7 September — Adam Buxton
- 21 September — Archie Madekwe
- 28 September — Christopher Eccleston
- 5 October — Steve Pemberton
- 12 October — Riz Ahmed
- 19 October — Nish Kumar
- 26 October — John Bradley
With further cast still to be announced, the only certainty is uncertainty — which is rather the point.
The Essentials
- Production: White Rabbit Red Rabbit by Nassim Soleimanpour
- Presented by: There & Then, in association with Nica Burns
- Where: The Duchess Theatre, 3–5 Catherine Street, London WC2B 5LA
- When: Weekly on Mondays at 7.30pm, until 2 November 2026
- Tickets: From £25 — nimaxtheatres.com/shows/wrrr
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