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 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.
