Stage and screen star Samantha Bond will lead the the Menier Chocolate Factory’s production of Florian Zeller’s The Lie this autumn.
The show sees the return of Zeller, translator Christopher Hampton and director Lindsay 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. Full casting will be announced shortly.
Alice (Bond) 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.
It is Bond’s first appearance on the West End stage since her star turn in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in 2014, having previously appeared in Passion Play and Arcadia at Duke of York’s Theatre, and her Tony Award-nominated role in Amy’s View (National Theatre, Aldwych Theatre and Broadway). She is also well-known for her credits in Outnumbered, Downton Abbey, and as Moneypenny in Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond films.
Christopher Hampton has translated plays by Ibsen, Molière, Chekhov, Yasmina Reza (including Art and Life x 3) and novelist 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).
The Lie will play at the Menier Chocolate Factory from 14 September – 18 November. You can book your tickets through the venue’s website.