Daily Mail
"Ingenious. A Rubik's cube of hilarious deceit."
“If everyone told the truth, there wouldn’t be a couple left on earth.” Michel is a middle-aged man with a comfortable life, a loyal wife, and a secret he is determined to keep. He has been having an affair with Alice - the wife of his best friend Paul - for seven months. He’s managed it rather well, he thinks. Then Paul starts to ask questions. And Laurence starts to notice things. And suddenly everyone seems to know exactly which play they’re in - except Michel.
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 - 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, with set and costume design by Lizzie Clachan. Tony Award-nominated Stephen Mangan plays Michel, double Olivier Award-winner Janie Dee plays Laurence, comedy icon Ardal O’Hanlon - Father Ted himself - is Paul, and Sarah Hadland is Alice. It is, as the producer puts it, “a cast to die for.” Book your tickets now.
Why it’s worth the watch
The Truth is Florian Zeller at his most gleefully entertaining, a razor-sharp marital comedy where nobody is quite who they say they are.
- A cast to die for. Stephen Mangan, Ardal O’Hanlon, Sarah Hadland and Janie Dee bring together a Tony nominee, a comedy icon and a double Olivier winner.
- From the writer of The Father. Oscar-winning playwright Florian Zeller trades tragedy for comedy in this ingenious puzzle-box of lies and love.
- A tight, single sitting. At a brisk 90 minutes with no interval, it is a sharp, merciless comedy of manners that never lets up.
- Expertly constructed. Directed by Lindsay Posner and translated by Christopher Hampton, critics call it a Rubik’s cube of hilarious deceit.
