Award-winning playwright Penelope Skinner’s new adaptation of Aleksei Arbuzov’s classic play stars Max Bennett, Gwilym Lee and Joanna Vanderham.

Set in war-torn Leningrad in 1943, The Promise tells the story of three teenagers who are thrown together by history. In the years following the siege, allegiances shift, love falters and their vow of solidarity is stretched to its limits.

Well known for his film role in Anna Karenina, in which he starred opposite Jude Law and Keira Knightley, Bennett’s stage credits include Luise Miller at the Donmar Warehouse and Royal Court hits Posh and In Basildon.

Also a familiar face on screen, Lee has appeared in TV series Fresh Meat, Lewis, Waterloo Road and Ashes To Ashes, in which he starred alongside This House’s Philip Glenister, while on stage he has been seen in King Lear at the Donmar Warehouse and the Donmar West End production of Hamlet.

Vanderham, whose television roles include The Runaway, Above Suspicion and The Paradise, makes her professional stage debut in the production.

Playing at part of the final Donmar Trafalgar season, which showcases work from graduates of the Donmar’s Resident Assistant Director programme, The Promise is directed by Alex Sims who has worked on productions of Othello, Parade, Absurdia, Betrayal, Kiss Of The Spider Woman and John Gabriel Borkman at the Donmar Warehouse.