David Harewood, David Tennant and Jo Joyner will be the first artists to perform White Rabbit Red Rabbit in a new West End run of Nassim Soleimanpour’s production in honour of its 15th anniversary.
Staged at London’s Duchess Theatre, it marks the first project from new independent production company Then & There, created by Soleimanpour and director Omar Elerian.
In the boundary pushing White Rabbit Red Rabbit, a different performer takes to the stage each night and is 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.
Running weekly from June 8-November 2, 2026, the initial line-up includes Harewood (June 8), Tennant (June 15), Joyner (June 22), Chaudhry (June 29), Luke Thompson (July 6), Jodie Whittaker (July 13), Kathryn Hunter (July 20), Kunal Nayyar (July 27), Archie Madekwe (September 21) and Riz Ahmed (September 28). More casting is to be announced.
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, 15y ears on the play’s questions feel as urgent as ever. To date, White Rabbit Red Rabbit has been performed more than 4,000 times and translated into more than 25 different languages.
There & Then was founded in 2026 by Soleimanpour and Elerian, whose recent collaborations include ECHO at the Royal Court Theatre and NASSIM at the Bush Theatre. They are joined by executive producer Roz Coleman and supported by producing advisor Malú Ansaldo.
White Rabbit Red Rabbit is their first solo-production with casting by Matilda James. It is a Then & There production in association with Nica Burns.
Tickets here.
Top image: David Harewood, David Tennant and Jo Joyner artwork (images supplied)