Max Bennett, Gwilym Lee and Joanna Vanderham to Star in Donmar Trafalgar’s The Promise

Penelope Skinner’s adaptation of The Promise will kick off Donmar Warehouse’s final season of RAD at Trafalgar Studios. Based on the Russian play by Aleksei Arbuzov, The Promise will star Max Bennett as Marat, Gwilym Lee as Leonidik and Joanna Vanderham as Lika. Directed by Alex Simms, the play will run November 15 and through December 8, with an opening night set for November 19.

The Promise  takes place in 1943 in war-ravaged Leningrad, and follows three teenagers thrown together by history. In the years following the siege, allegiances shift, love falters and their vow of solidarity is stretched to its limits.

Bennett has appeared on stage in Luise Miller, Relatively Speaking, Posh, Danton’s Death and Mrs. Warren’s Profession. Lee’s stage credits include King Lear, Hamlet, Othello and Oedipus. Vanderham is making her stage debut in The Promise and is best known for her TV work in The Paradise, Dancing on the Edge, Young James, Above Suspicion and The Runaway.

The Promise will feature set and costume design by Mike Britton, lighting design by Malcolm Rippeth and sound design by Emma Laxton.

Donmar’s final Resident Assistant Director (RAD) program will continue with The Dance of Death (adapted by Conor McPherson and directed by Titas Halder) and The Silence of the Sea (adapted by Anthony Weigh and directed by Simon Evans). No casting has been announced yet for either production.