Rosie O'Donnell, Adjoa Andoh and Julie Hesmondhalgh Join All-Star Cast for Gisele Pelicot Trial Play in London

A one-off theatrical production dramatising the landmark trial of Dominique Pelicot, the Frenchman convicted of drugging and raping his wife and recruiting dozens of strangers to abuse her, will be staged in London next month with a cast drawn from some of the most recognisable names in British and American entertainment.

Producers have confirmed that thirty actors and public figures will take part in "The Pelicot Trial", a documentary-style performance scheduled for a single showing at County Hall on 30 November. The event will also be streamed online, allowing audiences outside the capital to watch the four-hour production.

Among those attached to the project are US comedian Rosie O'Donnell, Julie Hesmondhalgh, best known for her long-running role in Coronation Street and her recent appearance on Celebrity Traitors, Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh and former EastEnders actress Tamzin Outhwaite. The breadth of the lineup reflects the unusual nature of the piece, which relies on a large ensemble rather than a traditional leading cast.

Additional performers include Juliet Stevenson, who rose to prominence in the film Truly, Madly, Deeply, All Creatures Great and Small actor Samuel West, The Sixth Sense's Olivia Williams and Kadiff Kirwan of Slow Horses. Comedian Rosie Jones, Dune actress Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Bridgerton's Lorraine Ashbourne and Rizzle Kicks rapper Jordan Stephens are also set to appear, with further names expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

The production has been assembled from court documents and psychiatric assessments of the numerous men prosecuted alongside Dominique Pelicot. Organisers describe it as a work of documentary theatre, a form that turns transcripts, testimony and official records into a live performance without inventing dialogue. The script was developed in partnership with journalists and feminist organisations based in France, where the case triggered intense public debate about consent, sexual violence and the treatment of victims.

Dominique Pelicot received a 20-year prison sentence after a court found he had secretly drugged his then wife, Gisele Pelicot, over a period of years and invited men he met online to sexually assault her while she was unconscious. Fifty other men were also prosecuted in connection with the abuse, which came to light only after police investigating an unrelated matter discovered footage stored on his electronic devices.

Gisele Pelicot, now 73, made the extraordinary decision to waive her right to anonymity as a survivor of sexual abuse, allowing the trial to be held in public and her name to be reported widely. She has consistently argued that shame should attach to perpetrators rather than victims, a stance that turned her into an international symbol of courage and a rallying point for campaigners against sexual violence.

The Young Vic theatre, which is staging the London performance, described the work as a profoundly affecting piece of documentary theatre built from testimonies and written accounts from the proceedings. In a statement, the theatre said the production pays tribute to an ordinary woman who opened the way to change, framing her decision to speak publicly as a pivotal moment in how such cases are discussed.

The play is not entirely new. It received its world premiere in Vienna last year and has since travelled to a series of cities, including Avignon, the southern French town where the trial was held, as well as New York, Lisbon, Milan and Bergen. Its arrival in London represents another stage in the work's international circulation, bringing the material to English-speaking audiences who followed the case closely through news coverage.

Each staging reportedly adapts the same core archive of material, with the ensemble reading and performing excerpts rather than impersonating the individuals involved. This approach places the emphasis on the words spoken in court and the psychological evaluations of the accused, allowing the audience to confront the scale of the case and the ordinariness of many of those who took part.

The London performance is scheduled to run for four hours, a duration that reflects the sheer volume of material generated by a trial involving dozens of defendants. Tickets are due to go on general sale on Wednesday, and the simultaneous online stream is likely to extend the production's reach well beyond the theatre's physical capacity.

For the Young Vic, the project continues a tradition of staging work that engages directly with contemporary social and legal questions. By collaborating with French journalists and feminist groups, the theatre has sought to ground the production in the factual record rather than dramatic speculation, a distinction that organisers appear keen to emphasise.

The case itself has already reshaped conversations in France and elsewhere. It prompted calls for legal reform, renewed scrutiny of how consent is defined and debated the use of drugs in sexual assault. Gisele Pelicot's decision to face her abusers in open court, rather than retreating into anonymity, has been credited with encouraging other survivors to come forward.

The involvement of high-profile figures such as O'Donnell, Andoh and Hesmondhalgh is likely to draw additional attention to those debates. Their participation signals that the subject matter resonates beyond France and continues to attract artists who see the theatre as a space for public reckoning with difficult material.

More casting announcements are expected in the weeks before the performance, as producers finalise the full company of thirty. The streaming component means that even those unable to secure tickets for County Hall will be able to watch the production as it happens, an arrangement that mirrors the unusually public nature of the trial on which it is based.