Star-Studded One-Off Play Brings Gisele Pelicot Trial to London Stage

A one-off theatrical production based on the landmark trial of Dominique Pelicot, the French man convicted of drugging and raping his then-wife Gisele Pelicot and enabling dozens of other men to assault her while she was unconscious, will be staged in London next month with a roster of well-known actors and public figures.

The Pelicot Trial, described as a piece of "documentary theatre", is set to take place at London's County Hall on 30 November, with the Young Vic theatre producing the performance. Thirty actors and public figures are confirmed to participate, and further casting announcements are expected in the weeks ahead.

Among those taking part are US comedian Rosie O'Donnell, Julie Hesmondhalgh, who recently appeared on Celebrity Traitors, Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh, and former EastEnders actress Tamzin Outhwaite. The production will also feature Juliet Stevenson, known for her role in Truly, Madly, Deeply, All Creatures Great and Small actor Samuel West, Olivia Williams of The Sixth Sense, and Kadiff Kirwan of Slow Horses.

Additional participants include comedian Rosie Jones, Dune actress Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Bridgerton's Lorraine Ashbourne, and Rizzle Kicks rapper Jordan Stephens. The breadth of the cast, spanning film, television, comedy and music, reflects the production's ambition to draw mainstream attention to a case that has resonated far beyond French borders.

The play has been assembled from court documents and psychiatric reports relating to the dozens of men prosecuted in the case. It was developed in collaboration with journalists and feminist organisations in France, according to the Young Vic, giving the production a documentary foundation rather than a dramatised interpretation of events.

The Young Vic said the performance is a "profoundly affecting piece of documentary theatre, comprised of testimonies and written accounts from the trial", and that it pays tribute to "the ordinary woman who opened the way to change". The four-hour running time signals the scale of the material being presented, which draws directly from the legal record rather than fictionalised accounts.

Gisele Pelicot, now 73, waived her right to anonymity as a survivor of sexual abuse, a decision that proved pivotal in shaping public understanding of the case. She has said that shame should fall on her abusers rather than on her, a stance that transformed her into an international symbol of strength against sexual violence.

Her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, was jailed for 20 years after being found guilty of drugging and raping her over an extended period and of allowing 50 other men to rape her while she was unconscious. The trial, held in Avignon, drew intense media scrutiny and sparked outrage in France and internationally, prompting wider debates about consent, sexual violence and the treatment of survivors within the justice system.

The Pelicot Trial received its world premiere in Vienna last year and has since toured to a number of cities, including Avignon, New York, Lisbon, Milan and Bergen. Its London staging represents the latest stop on an international run that has brought the testimony and documentation of the case to audiences outside France.

The decision to stage the work at County Hall, rather than in a traditional theatre, adds a civic dimension to the production. The venue, a prominent London landmark, will host the four-hour performance before an expected large audience, with the event also set to be streamed online for viewers unable to attend in person.

Tickets for the London performance are scheduled to go on general sale on Wednesday. The combination of a high-profile cast and a subject of continuing public interest is likely to generate significant demand, particularly given the one-night-only nature of the staging.

The production arrives at a time when discussions around sexual violence, consent and the treatment of survivors remain prominent in public discourse across Europe and beyond. By constructing the piece from trial documents and psychiatric reports, the creators appear to be positioning the play as a form of testimony rather than entertainment, allowing the words of those involved in the case to carry the narrative.

The involvement of figures such as O'Donnell, Andoh and Hesmondhalgh, each with substantial followings in different markets, may help extend the reach of the production's message. Their participation also underscores the extent to which the Pelicot case has become a cultural reference point, moving from courtroom coverage into theatre, documentary and wider public debate.

For the Young Vic, the production represents a continuation of its tradition of staging socially engaged work. The theatre's framing of the play as a tribute to "the ordinary woman who opened the way to change" places Gisele Pelicot at the centre of the narrative, emphasising her decision to speak publicly and the consequences of that choice.

The London performance follows a previous announcement that the Pelicot rape case would be told in a London play, a development reported earlier this month. With the full cast now largely confirmed and tickets about to be released, the production is poised to become one of the most discussed theatrical events of the season, bringing a landmark legal case to a new audience through the words recorded during its proceedings.