The National Theatre production of The Red Barn, David Hare's play based on the novel La Main by Georges Simenon, will open in the Lyttelton Theatre on 6 October.
Detective writer Georges Simenon escaped France at the end of World War Two and arrived in the USA to start again. With his American wife, he settled at Shadow Rock Farm in Lakeville, Connecticut. Years later, he wrote La Main, a psychological thriller set in a New England farmhouse.
David Hare has turned this novel into a play set in Connecticut in 1969. On their way back from a party, two couples struggle home through the snow. Not everyone arrives safely.
The cast includes Mark Strong, recent recipient of the Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance as Eddie Carbone in A View from the Bridge, and Hope Davis, making her UK stage debut after her Tony-nominated performance in God of Carnage on Broadway. Further casting will be announced later this summer.
The play will be directed by Robert Icke, who is currently Associate Director at the Almeida Theatre, with design by Bunny Christie, lighting by Paule Constable, video design by Tim Reid and sound by Tom Gibbons.
The production will run in the Lyttelton Theatre from 6 October and is currently booking to 19 November with additional performances to be announced.