The Truth Tickets

Florian Zeller — the Oscar-winning French playwright whose The Father (starring Anthony Hopkins in the film adaptation) became one of the defining pieces of contemporary theatre — is at his most gleefully entertaining here. The Truth is his marital comedy: a sharp, merciless 90-minute comedy of manners in which nobody is quite who they say they are and every scene quietly repositions everything you thought you understood about the one before.

Translated by Christopher Hampton — who has translated every Zeller West End production, and who wrote Les Liaisons Dangereuses — the play is directed by Lindsay Posner, returning to the production she staged at the Menier Chocolate Factory before its West End transfer to Wyndham’s in 2016. The new staging features set and costume design by Lizzie Clachan (Cherry Orchard, Teeth ’n’ Smiles).

The cast is the most delicious part. Tony Award-nominated Stephen Mangan plays Michel — his most recent West End credits include Mike Bartlett’s Unicorn and Private Lives at the Donmar. Double Olivier Award-winner Janie Dee (Follies, Hay Fever) plays Laurence. Comedy icon Ardal O’Hanlon — Father Ted himself — is Paul. And Sarah Hadland (Miranda, Strictly Come Dancing) is Alice. It is, as the producer puts it, “a cast to die for.”