Photos: Sandra Oh and More in Rehearsal For THE MISANTHROPE at the National Theatre

The National Theatre has released a first look at rehearsals for Martin Crimp’s new adaptation of Molière’s The Misanthrope. Check out the photos below! Golden Globe winner Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) makes her National Theatre debut as Alice, reimagined from Molière's most infamous character – the misanthropic Alceste. Written in contemporary verse, this biting satire interrogates 21st-century private relationships and public debate, in a production by National Theatre Director Indhu Rubasingham. The Misanthrope will run in the Lyttelton from 16 June to 1 August 2026.

Full casting for The Misanthrope includes Paul Chahidi as John, Abigail Cruttenden as Claire, Imogen Elliott as Esmée, Rina Fatania as Indira, Freddie MacBruce as Allen, Tom Mison as Stefan, Sandra Oh as Alice and Jemima Rooper as Elaine. Young performers include Arthur Blanc and Teddy Holton-Frances as Benjamin and Francesca Fullilove and Poppy Townsend White as Madeleine.

The understudy cast completing the company includes Niamh James as understudy Esmée/Allen, Amira Matthews as understudy Claire/Indira/Elaine, Scott Sparrow as understudy Stefan, John Vernon as understudy John and Gabby Wong as understudy Alice.

Alice, a brilliant novelist, despises the hollow contemporary mantras of kindness and respect. But the bolder she becomes in speaking out, the more colleagues avoid her, and the more her personal relationships begin to fracture. As she challenges fashionable ideas and lends her voice to causes others are afraid to touch, she faces intense criticism and backlash. Alice will soon learn the price she must pay as an artist and as a woman for daring to speak her mind.

Joining Indhu Rubasingham in the artistic team are set and costume designer Robert Jones, lighting designer Tim Lutkin, composer Anna Meredith, sound designer Alexander Caplen, movement director Lucy Hind, casting Alastair Coomer CDG and Martin Poile CDG, voice coach Jeannette Nelson, associate director Gitika Buttoo and associate set and costume designer Ethan Cheek.

The Misanthrope will run in the Lyttelton theatre from 16 June – 1 August 2026, with a press performance on Tuesday 23 June 2026, at 7pm.

On Saturday 20 June 2026 at 5.30pm the National Theatre will hold a special event in the Cottesloe room, Martin Crimp: The Writer and the Work. Martin will be in conversation with academic Vicky Angelaki, of Mid Sweden University, and Arts Desk critic Aleks Sierz, writer of Martin Crimp: The Writer and the Work — published by Liverpool University Press to coincide with the year of Martin’s seventieth birthday. 

Photo Credit: Marc Brenner

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