White Rabbit Red Rabbit Tickets at the Duchess Theatre

What Tickets Cost

Tickets start from around £30 and go up to around £70. Most nights are close to selling out, and John Bradley's night on 26 October has the most seats left, including the cheapest.

All-in: the price you pick is the price you pay. Booking for a group? Call us on 020 7193 9050 and we'll help you find seats together.

Performance Dates

Every performance is on a Monday at 7:30pm, and you'll be out at about 8:45pm.

• 19 October 2026: Nish Kumar
• 26 October 2026: John Bradley
• 2 November 2026: Joe Lycett
• 23 November 2026: Olivia Cooke

Booking runs to 23 November for now, and more Mondays may be added. If a named performer can't make their night, the show goes ahead with someone else and tickets aren't refunded or exchanged. If a performance is cancelled altogether, you get a full refund.

Book Your White Rabbit Red Rabbit Tickets

Four Monday nights left at the Duchess, from 19 October to 23 November 2026, with tickets from around £30. All-in: the price you pick is the price you pay.

Choose your performer and seats online, or call us on 020 7193 9050 to book by phone.

Where to Sit

The Duchess is small, about 500 seats over the Stalls and the Dress Circle, and with one actor and a bare stage, being close helps.

• Stalls. The middle of the Stalls is the place to be for this. The ends of the front rows curve in, so stay central near the front. Sit near the front if you're happy to be asked up.
• Dress Circle. Head-on and well raked, with a clear view from every row, and the best choice if you'd rather stay in your seat.
• Boxes. The two at the back of the Dress Circle are among the cheapest seats, with a more limited view.

Who's White Rabbit Red Rabbit For?

• Fans of whoever's on that night. Nish Kumar, John Bradley, Joe Lycett and Olivia Cooke each get one night, and you see them do something they've never done before.
• Anyone who likes theatre that could go either way. The actor doesn't know what's on the next page, and neither do you.
• A short Monday night out. It starts at 7:30pm and runs about an hour, with no interval.
• Not for you if you'd rather sit back and watch. The audience is part of it, and some people are asked to join the actor on stage.

What Is White Rabbit Red Rabbit About?

Soleimanpour wrote the play in Iran when he wasn't allowed to leave the country, so he sent his words out into the world instead. It's funny for long stretches and then it isn't: the play is about obedience, choice and how far people will go when they're told what to do, and the audience ends up testing that for real.

That's as much as we'll say. The less you know, the better it works.

How It Works

1. An envelope. The script waits on stage, sealed. That night's performer opens it in front of the audience.
2. A cold read. There's no director and no rehearsal, so they perform it as they read it, page by page.
3. The audience joins in. The script asks things of the people watching, and some are asked up on stage.
4. One night only. Each performer does it once, so no two nights are the same.

White Rabbit Red Rabbit Reviews

Every critic saw the first night, with Lucian Msamati reading, and they agree the format works. Where they differ is on the script.

• Theatre Weekly, four stars: "a deeply moving and, at times, thrilling theatrical experiment." Jake Wiafe also found some moments "somewhat tonally jarring".
• The Upcoming, four stars: Thomas Messner called it "an irresistible and ultimately affecting exercise in audience participation".
• WhatsOnStage, three stars: "a unique, unexpectedly haunting theatrical experience", though it called the text "more experiment than actual play".

Your night will have a different performer, so the reviews tell you about the play rather than the show you'll see.

White Rabbit Red Rabbit News

The 15th-anniversary run opened at the Duchess on 8 June 2026 and has been extended, with Joe Lycett and Olivia Cooke added in October. It plays on Mondays because The Play That Goes Wrong has no Monday performance.

Cast

One performer a night, reading the script for the first time:

• 19 October 2026: Nish Kumar
• 26 October 2026: John Bradley
• 2 November 2026: Joe Lycett
• 23 November 2026: Olivia Cooke

Since the run opened in June, Lucian Msamati, David Tennant, Jo Joyner, Asim Chaudhry, Luke Thompson, Jodie Whittaker, Kathryn Hunter, Kunal Nayyar, Munya Chawawa, Ginger Johnson, David Harewood, Mel Giedroyc, Adam Buxton, Archie Madekwe, Christopher Eccleston, Steve Pemberton and Riz Ahmed have all taken a turn.

Creative Team

Written by Nassim Soleimanpour. Produced by There & Then, the company Soleimanpour founded with the director Omar Elerian, in association with Nica Burns. There's no director for the performance itself.

Getting to the Duchess Theatre

The Duchess is at 3-5 Catherine Street, London WC2B 5LA, about halfway along a side street that runs up from the Aldwych. Covent Garden is the closest tube at about 6 minutes' walk, though it's lift-only and gets busy, so Charing Cross or Holborn, both about 8 minutes, are often easier.

Buses 1, 59, 68, 76, 172, 188, 243 and 341 stop on the Aldwych by Drury Lane, a minute away. Buses 9, 15, 23, 26, 87, 91, 139 and 176 stop on the Strand at Savoy Street, about 2 minutes away.

Arrive 15 to 20 minutes before, no later. The Stalls are 20 steps down from the foyer and the Dress Circle 11 steps up, and there's no lift. More in our Duchess Theatre guide.

Accessible Performances

There are no signed, captioned or audio-described performances in this run. Wheelchair spaces and access seats are booked through the theatre's own access team, not through us, and the team can also explain how the Stalls are being reached at the moment. Our Duchess Theatre access guide covers each level.

White Rabbit Red Rabbit FAQs