Full Company Announced For THE LIE at Menier Chocolate Factory

The Menier Chocolate Factory today announces the full company for Florian Zeller's The Lie in a translation by Christopher Hampton - Lindsay Posner directs Samantha Bond, James Dreyfus, Tony Gardner and Alexandra Gilbreath. The production sees the return of Zeller, Hampton and Posner to the Menier following the huge success of The Truth in 2016, which later transferred to the West End and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Comedy.

Alice spots her friend's husband with another woman. Should she tell her friend the truth...or lie? Her husband Paul is convinced that it is better to lie. But in doing so, who is being protected and who suffers? Both find out that in matters of the heart, the line between the truth and a lie can be a dangerous one to cross.

Tickets are now on sale to the general public.

Samantha Bond plays Alice. Her theatre credits include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Savoy Theatre), Passion Play, Arcadia (Duke of York's Theatre), Amy's View (National Theatre, Aldwych Theatre and Broadway - Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play), Three Tall Women (Wyndham's Theatre), What the Butler Saw, An Ideal Husband (Vaudeville Theatre), The Cid - Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Play and The Ends Of The Earth (National Theatre). For television, her credits include Outnumbered, Downton Abbey, The Queen - 1974, Larkrise To Candleford, Mansfield Park; and for film, her credits include Die Another Day, The World Is Not Enough, What Rats Won't Do, Tomorrow Never Dies, Golden Eye and Eric The Viking.

James Dreyfus returns to the Menier, where he previously appeared in Candide and The Common Pursuit. His other theatre work includes The Master Builder (The Old Vic), Harvey (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Donkey's Years (Harold Pinter Theatre), Cabaret (Lyric Theatre), The Producers (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), The Lady in the Dark (National Theatre - Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical). For television, his work includes Mount Pleasant, Gimme Gimme Gimme and The Thin Blue Line; and for film, Notting Hill.

Tony Gardner's theatre credits include Around the World in 80 Days (St James Theatre), The Rivals (Theatre Royal Haymarket), and Bedroom Farce (Duke of York's Theatre). For television, his work includes Last Tango in Halifax, Bluestone 42, and Fresh Meat.

Alexandra Gilbreath's theatre work includes Dessert (Southwark Playhouse), The Wars of the Roses (Rose Theatre, Kingston); for the RSC where she is an Associate Artist, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night (Olivier nomination for Best Actress in a Play), Merry Wives: The Musical, The Taming of the Shrew/The Tamer Tamed, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, The Winter's Tale, Cyrano de Bergerac and Ghosts. For television, her work includes Absolute Power and Monarch of the Glen.

Florian Zeller is a French novelist and playwright. His work has been translated into several languages. Zeller wrote his first novel, Neiges artificielles (Artificial Snow), when he was twenty-two years old. His second novel, Les Amants du n'importe quoi (Lovers or Something Like It), was well received but it was his third novel, La Fascination du pire (Fascination of Evil), which won the 2004 Prix Interallié, and which made him a household name in France. The book was selected for the Prix Goncourt. In addition to The Truth (Olivier nomination for Best New Comedy), The Father (which won the 2014 Molière Award for Best Play), The Mother (winner of the 2011 Molière for Best Comedy) - all adapted into English by Christopher Hampton - Zeller's other theatre credits include L'Autre, Le Manège, Si tu mourais (Prix Jeune Théâtre of the Académie Française), Elle t'attend, Une Heure de tranquillité and Le Mensonge. His other novels include Les Amants du n'importe quoi (Lovers or Something Like It); La Fascination du pire (The Fascination of Evil); Julien Parme and La Jouissance.

Christopher Hampton has translated plays by Ibsen, Molière, Chekhov, Yasmina Reza (including Art and Life x 3) and Florian Zeller's The Father, The Mother and The Truth. He won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the adaptation of his own play, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (released as Dangerous Liaisons). He was nominated again in 2007 for adapting Ian McEwan's novel Atonement. His television work includes adaptations of The History Man and Hotel du Lac.

Lindsay Posner returns to the Menier Chocolate Factory having previously directed The Truth, Dinner with Saddam, Communicating Doors and Abigail's Party (also Theatre Royal Bath, Wyndham's and UK tour). His receNT Productions include The End of Longing (Playhouse and New York), Hay Fever (Duke of York's), Harvey (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Speed the Plow (Playhouse), Relatively Speaking (Wyndham's), A Little Hotel on the Side (Theatre Royal Bath), Other Desert Cities, The Winslow Boy and Noises Off (The Old Vic), The Turn of the Screw (Almeida Theatre) and Uncle Vanya (Vaudeville Theatre). He was Associate Director of the Royal Court from 1987-1992 where his productions included Death and the Maiden (which transferred to the Duke of York's Theatre and won two Olivier Awards), Colquhoun and McBryde and The Treatment.

Presented by arrangement with Theatre Royal Bath Productions.

Listings Information The Lie

Venue: Menier Chocolate Factory

Address: 53 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1RU

Press performance: 27 September at 8pm

Dates: 14 September - 18 November

Times: Tue - Sat 8pm, matinees Sat and Sun 3.30pm

Box Office: 020 7378 1713 (£2.50 transaction fee per booking)

Website: www.menierchocolatefactory.com (£1.50 transaction fee per booking)

Tickets: Prices vary, as below from discounted preview tickets to premier seats. With the emphasis on 'the sooner you book, the better the price':

Prices from £32.50

A meal deal ticket includes a 2-course meal from the pre-theatre menu in the Menier Restaurant as well as the theatre ticket.

www.menierchocolatefactory.com

Twitter: @MenChocFactory