Iranian-German playwright Nassim Soleimanpour and director Omar Elerian have launched There & Then, an independent theatre company whose inaugural production brings “White Rabbit Red Rabbit” back to London’s West End in its 15th anniversary year, in association with producer Nica Burns.
The format places a different performer onstage each week, handed a sealed envelope containing a script they have never read, which they must then perform cold, without any preparation or directorial guidance. The lineup revealed so far features David Harewood on June 8; David Tennant on June 15; Jo Joyner on June 22; Asim Chaudhry on June 29; Luke Thompson on July 6; Jodie Whittaker on July 13; Kathryn Hunter on July 20; Kunal Nayyar on July 27; Archie Madekwe on Sept. 21; and Riz Ahmed on Sept. 28. Further casting will be announced. The production runs at the Duchess Theatre from June 8 to Nov. 2.
Soleimanpour wrote the play while he was forbidden from travelling outside Iran. It premiered in 2011 and has since clocked over 4,000 stagings across more than 25 languages. The West End production is cast by Matilda James CDG.
Soleimanpour and Elerian’s decade-long creative partnership has produced projects including “Echo” at the Royal Court Theatre and “Nassim” at the Bush Theatre. Executive producer Roz Coleman and producing advisor Malú Ansaldo complete the company’s core team. In addition to its own productions, There & Then intends to collaborate with artists and communities across different career stages on an international basis. The company is separately mounting a second world tour of “Echo,” with Immanuel Bartz serving as producer on that project.
Soleimanpour said: “We are all made of the stories we dare to tell, and the silences we finally give a voice. What began as a leap into the unknown with ‘White Rabbit Red Rabbit’ has, through years of collaboration with Omar Elerian, become a shared theatrical language and the foundation of this new company, and we’re excited that our first production will be in association with Nica Burns and Nimax as we share this next chapter with audiences.”
Elerian added: “I am extremely excited to embark on this new creative chapter in collaboration with my partner-in-crime, Nassim Soleimanpour. Together, we look forward to introducing something fresh and unconventional to the West End, confident that London audiences will embrace the exhilarating high-wire nature of our work – anchored in presence, immediacy, and a spirit of the unknown. In these fragile and uncertain times, we hope to reaffirm that risk, imagination, and the enduring power of storytelling remain among our most vital and transformative forces.”
Coleman said: “I have always worked alongside artists who push the limits of what is expected, and There & Then is a natural next chapter. The scale of ambition alongside the lightness of touch inspires me, and the return of ‘White Rabbit Red Rabbit’ opens a door to something much bigger. With ‘Echo’ touring Europe this spring and a growing body of new work taking shape, I am proud to be part of building a company with this kind of range and restlessness. We are only just getting started.”
Burns added: “I am delighted to welcome two exceptional artists producing together for the first time with their new company – playwright Nassim Soleimanpour and director Omar Elerian – to our first Monday evening residency at the intimate Duchess Theatre. Every performance of ‘White Rabbit Red Rabbit,’ a sold-out hit @sohoplace in 2024, is as unique as each of our outstanding company of performers, who appear only once. Definitely worth seeing twice.”
