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

A one-off theatrical production dramatising the landmark trial of Dominique Pelicot will bring an unusually large and eclectic ensemble to London's County Hall next month, with organisers confirming that thirty actors and public figures will take part in the single performance.

Among those announced are US comedian Rosie O'Donnell, Celebrity Traitors contestant Julie Hesmondhalgh, Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh and former EastEnders actress Tamzin Outhwaite. The production, titled The Pelicot Trial, is described as documentary theatre, a form that draws directly on primary-source material rather than inventing dialogue or plot.

The Young Vic theatre, which is staging the event on 30 November, said the work has been assembled from court documents and psychiatric reports relating to dozens of men who were prosecuted in the case. That material has been shaped into a script intended to be read and performed rather than fictionalised.

The broader cast list reflects a deliberate cross-section of British stage and screen talent. Juliet Stevenson, known for films including Truly, Madly, Deeply, will appear alongside All Creatures Great and Small actor Samuel West, Sixth Sense star Olivia Williams and Slow Horses' Kadiff Kirwan.

Also taking part are comedian Rosie Jones, Dune actress Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Bridgerton's Lorraine Ashbourne and Rizzle Kicks rapper Jordan Stephens. Producers indicated that further casting will be revealed in the weeks leading up to the performance.

The case at the centre of the play shocked audiences in France and far beyond. Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping his then wife, Gisele Pelicot, and for arranging for fifty other men to rape her while she was unconscious.

Gisele Pelicot, now 73, chose to waive the anonymity normally afforded to survivors of sexual violence. She has said publicly that shame should attach to her abusers rather than to her, a stance that transformed her into an international symbol of courage in the face of sexual assault.

The Young Vic said the London performance is intended as a tribute to what it called "the ordinary woman who opened the way to change". In its statement, the theatre characterised the piece as a profoundly affecting work of documentary theatre built from testimonies and written accounts generated during the trial.

The production was developed in collaboration with journalists and feminist organisations in France, according to the theatre. That partnership reflects the extent to which the trial was documented in real time by media outlets and advocacy groups, producing a vast archive of first-person testimony.

The Pelicot Trial does not make its debut in London. It received its world premiere in Vienna last year and has since toured to a series of cities, including Avignon, the southern French city where the trial was held, as well as New York, Lisbon, Milan and Bergen.

Scheduling the London staging as a four-hour event signals the scale of the source material and the seriousness with which the creators treat it. Documentaries assembled from legal transcripts and medical assessments typically require extended running times to accommodate the volume of voices involved.

The choice of County Hall as the venue places the performance in a prominent civic building on the South Bank of the Thames, rather than in a conventional theatre. Organisers have also arranged for the performance to be streamed online, widening access beyond those able to attend in person.

Tickets are due to go on general sale on Wednesday, and given the one-night-only format and the profile of the cast, demand is likely to be intense. The combination of a single performance, a large ensemble and a live stream suggests the producers expect significant public interest.

The production arrives amid heightened awareness of how courts and the media handle sexual violence cases. Gisele Pelicot's decision to allow her name and image to be used has been widely cited as a turning point in public discussion, and the trial prompted calls for legal and cultural change in France.

Documentary theatre has a long tradition of turning verbatim testimony into public performance, often with the aim of keeping attention on stories that might otherwise fade from the news cycle. By assembling psychiatric reports and trial documents, the creators are placing the words of the accused and the court record itself at the centre of the work.

For audiences in London, the play offers a chance to engage with a case that has already generated extensive commentary but whose details remain difficult and disturbing. The involvement of well-known performers is likely to draw in viewers who might not otherwise seek out such material.

The Young Vic's framing of the piece as a tribute to an ordinary woman who opened the way to change emphasises the human dimension of a legal saga that involved dozens of defendants. That emphasis may shape how the production is received when it takes the stage at the end of November.