Adjoa Andoh, Rosie O'Donnell and Julie Hesmondhalgh to appear in play about Gisele Pelicot case
US comedian Rosie O'Donnell, Celebrity Traitors star Julie Hesmondhalgh, Bridgerton's Adjoa Andoh and EastEnders actress Tamzin Outhwaite will appear in a play based on the trial of the husband of Gisele Pelicot.
Thirty actors and public figures will take part in The Pelicot Trial, a one-off "documentary theatre" style performance at London's County Hall next month.
The play has been created from documents from the trial and psychiatric reports of dozens of men who were prosecuted in the case, which caused outrage in France and around the world, and turned Gisele Pelicot into a symbol of strength against sexual assault.
Dominique Pelicot was jailed for 20 years for drugging and raping his then wife, and allowing 50 other men to rape her while she was unconscious.
The play pays tribute to "the ordinary woman who opened the way to change", the Young Vic said
Other cast members include Truly, Madly, Deeply star Juliet Stevenson, All Creatures Great and Small actor Samuel West, Sixth Sense's Oliva Wiliams and Slow Horses' Kadiff Kirwan.
Comedian Rosie Jones, Dune actress Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Bridgerton's Lorraine Ashbourne and Rizzle Kicks rapper Jordan Stephens will also take part.
Further casting for the four-hour play, which was developed in collaboration with journalists and feminist organisations in France, will be announced in the coming weeks.
The play was first staged in Vienna last year
The Pelicot Trial will be staged by the Young Vic theatre at London's County Hall on 30 November, and will also be streamed online.
The Young Vic said the performance is a "profoundly affecting piece of documentary theatre, comprised of testimonies and written accounts from the trial, (which) pays tribute to the ordinary woman who opened the way to change".
Gisele Pelicot, 73, waived her right to anonymity as a survivor of sexual abuse, and said shame should fall on her abusers, not her.
The Pelicot Trial received its world premiere in Vienna last year and has since toured to cities including Avignon, New York, Lisbon, Milan and Bergen.
Tickets for the London performance will go on general sale on Wednesday.
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