Tim Crouch’s An Oak Tree, which features a different guest artist in every performance who has never seen or read the script, is coming to the Young Vic to mark the play’s 20th anniversary.
A father loses his daughter in a car accident. The driver of the car that killed her is a stage hypnotist. The two men meet for the first time when the father volunteers for the hypnotist’s act. What follows is a live theatrical experience like no other – a bold and absurdly comic story of loss, suggestion and the power of the mind.
Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù (Gangs of London), Michelle Terry (Tribes), Luke Thompson (Bridgerton), Russell Tovey (Being Human) and Indira Varma (Game of Thrones) are the first of 15 different guest artists who will each take to the Young Vic stage on a different date, to perform alongside writer and co-director Crouch, who returns to star in the production.
Each guest artist will only be revealed to audiences live on the night, as they join Crouch on stage. The remaining artists are to be announced in the coming weeks.
This bold, absurdly comic, and profoundly moving story of loss, suggestion, and the power of the mind pioneered the idea of the theatrical ‘cold-read’ and has significantly influenced other artists that have gone on to explore this form.
Since its premiere in 2005, more than 350 different guest artists including Frances McDormand, Geoffrey Rush, Sharon D Clarke, Alanis Morrissette, Sophie Okonedo and Peter Dinklage have appeared in the play in 19 different countries from Lithuania, Argentina and the UK to Hong Kong, Australia and the USA.
An Oak Tree is directed by Crouch, Karl James and Andy Smith. The play also features music by Peter Gill.
An Oak Tree is produced by Francesca Moody Productions in association with the Young Vic, running from May 6-17.
Tickets go on public sale from January 27: www.youngvic.org