Watch on the Rhine 2022
Opened: December 15, 2022Closing: February 04, 2023
Watch on the Rhine - 2022 West End History , Info & More
Donmar Warehouse
41 Earlham Street London
Summer 1940. On a peaceful morning in her Washington D.C. living room, widow Fanny Farrelly anxiously awaits the return of her daughter and her German husband, fleeing Europe with their children.
As night falls, dark secrets emerge, and this American sanctuary becomes even more dangerous than what they left behind.
Known for her success on Broadway (The Little Foxes, The Children's Hour) Lillian Hellman was also a brilliant activist, ahead of her time. WATCH ON THE RHINE is her masterpiece political thriller, given a timely revival by director Ellen McDougall.
Cast includes Olivier Award winner Patricia Hodge and Caitlin FitzGerald (Succession, Inventing Anna) and John Light (The Son).
__Show warnings: please note this section contains spoilers__
The play contains references to concentration camps, shooting, bombing and refugees all in the context of WWII
There are also references to gambling, bribery and murder.
There are scenes of physical violence.
__Access performances__
CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE
Monday 23 January 7.30pm
AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE
Saturday 28 January 2.30pm, touch tour at 1pm
BSL PERFORMANCE
Saturday 21 January 2.30pm
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Watch on the Rhine
Watch on the Rhine at the Donmar Warehouse review: movingly acted but the play feels like a museum piece
7 / 10
Overall, this is a handsomely mounted, well-acted work that strums reliably on the emotions, but feels inescapably like a museum piece. Scratchy film at the end tells us about the real Jewish-American-German couple that inspired Watch on the Rhine, and Hellman’s own later steadfastness during the McCarthy witchhunts in the 1950s. A new play about either might feel more stimulating.
Lillian Hellman’s 1941 play is a time capsule of American non-interventionism under the guise of a comedy of manners that suddenly becomes a thriller.
8 / 10
The whimsical differences in lifestyle inexorably transmute into a sharp commentary and instigate a call to action for a nation that had not yet entered the conflict when the show premiered on Broadway in 1941. It's a bold, uncompromising move for Ellen McDougall to stage it in the face of the Ukrainian war and the perfect opportunity to prove why the Donmar didn't deserve the 100% cut to its Arts Council England funding.
Review Roundup: WATCH ON THE RHINE at The Donmar Warehouse
by Chloe Rabinowitz - January 11, 2023
by Chloe Rabinowitz - January 11, 2023
Read the reviews for Lillian Hellman's masterpiece political thriller Watch on the Rhine at Donmar Warehouse.
Review: WATCH ON THE RHINE, Donmar Warehouse
by Cindy Marcolina - January 12, 2023
by Cindy Marcolina - January 12, 2023
Lillian Hellman’s play is a time capsule of American non-interventionism under the guise of a comedy of manners that suddenly becomes a historical thriller.
Watch on the Rhine History
Other Productions of Watch on the Rhine
| 1941 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1980 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 2022 | West End |
West End |
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