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Nassim Soleimanpour’s ‘White Rabbit, Red Rabbit’ is a cult theatre show par excellence, which started life at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe, where a different performer each show would – with no preparation at all – read the play’s script and follow its stage directions, having never seen it before. While the idea is to not overly divulge the contents, the work is a playful and chilling work that took the form it did because the reader was intended to be a proxy for Iranian playwright Soleimanpour, who was unable to leave his home country at the time because he’d refused to do national service (he has subsequently left although that doesn’t take anything away from the show).
Back then, the performers were basically random theatre people: I first heard about it because I bumped into my not-at-all famous friend Debbie on the street in Edinburgh and she said I should come down and watch her do the show. But as its reputation has increased, so bigger names have been attracted and long story short, the show is about to have its biggest and starriest run ever with a five-week West End run in which a different celebrity will read at each performance.
The production was announced last month, when big names included Michael Sheen, Daisy Edgar Jones and Richard Gadd. Good luck seeing them now, but great news: a new and apparently final extension has been announced, and with it a slew of big name readers including Harriet Walter, Paloma Faith, Sheila Atim, Rory Kinnear and Denise Gough.
Unlike some shows of this ilk where it’s left to random fate who you get, the producers have shared a performance schedule so that you can ensure you can attend your fav sleb’s performance. Are we going to share it with you? Hell yes we’re going to share it with you:
Tuesday 1 October (8.00pm) – NICK MOHAMMED
Wednesday 2 October (8.00pm) – MATHEW BAYNTON
Thursday 3 October (8.00pm) - JILL HALFPENNY
Friday 4 October (8.00pm) – MICHAEL SHEEN
Saturday 5 October (3.00pm) – DAISY EDGAR JONES
Saturday 5 October (8.00pm) – PEARL MACKIE
Sunday 6 October (2.00pm)– BEN BAILEY SMITH
Sunday 6 October (8.00pm) – JASON ISAACS
Tuesday 8 October (8.00pm) – OLLY ALEXANDER
Wednesday 9 October (8.00pm) – KATE FLEETWOOD
Thursday 10 October (8.00pm) – ALFRED ENOCH
Friday 11 October (8.00pm) – JOHN BISHOP
Saturday 12 October (3.00pm) – TONIA SOTIROPOULOU
Saturday 12 October (8.00pm) – JONATHAN PRYCE
Sunday 13 October (2.00pm) – KEITH ALLEN
Sunday 13 October (6.00pm) - RICHARD GADD
Monday 14 October (8.00pm) – OMARI DOUGLAS
Tuesday 15 October (8.00pm) – ALAN DAVIES
Wednesday 16 October (8.00pm) – SALLY PHILLIPS
Thursday 17 October (8.00pm) – CATHERINE TATE
Friday 18 October (8.00pm) – FREEMA AGYEMAN
Saturday 19 October (2.00pm) – JULIE HESMONDHALGH
Saturday 19 October (5.00pm) – JOE DEMPSIE
Saturday 19 October (8.00pm) – CALLUM SCOTT HOWELLS
Monday 21 October (7.30pm) - HARRIET WALTER
Tuesday 22 October (7.30pm) - ELIZABETH MCGOVERN
Wednesday 23 October (7.30pm) - TOBY JONES
Thursday 24 October (7.30pm) - STEPHEN MERCHANT
Friday 25 October (7.30pm) - NAOKO MORI
Saturday 26 October (2.00pm) - TANYA REYNOLDS
Saturday 26 October (5.00pm) - ADJOA ANDOH
Saturday 26 October (8.00pm) - RALF LITTLE
Monday 28 October (7.30pm) – TRACY-ANN OBERMAN
Tuesday 29 October (7.30pm) - MATT LUCAS
Wednesday 30 October (7.30pm) - KATE PHILLIPS
Thursday 31 October (7:30pm) - MIRIAM MARGOLYES
Friday 1 November (7.30pm) - PALOMA FAITH
Saturday 2 November (2pm) - STOCKARD CHANNING
Saturday 2 November (5.00pm) - SANJEEV BHASKAR
Saturday 2 November (8.00pm) - SHEILA ATIM
Monday 4 November (7.30pm) - RORY KINNEAR
Tuesday 5 November (7.30pm) - LENNY HENRY
Wednesday 6 November (7.30pm) - MINNIE DRIVER
Thursday 7 November (7.30pm) - AMBIKA MOD
Friday 8 November (7.30pm) - RYAN CALAIS CAMERON
Saturday 9 November (2.00pm) - DOUGLAS HENSHALL
Saturday 9 November (5.00pm) - KATHERINE PARKINSON
Saturday 9 November (8.00pm) - DENISE GOUGH
‘White Rabbit, Red Rabbit’ is @sohoplace, Oct 1-Nov 9. Buy tickets here.
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