First look rehearsal images are released for The White Factory at Marylebone Playhouse, written by internationally acclaimed author Dmitry Glukhovsky, now facing an 8 year jail sentence in Russia.
The full cast for The White Factory includes: Adrian Schiller, best known for playing Mr Penge in the ITV series Victoria and Lord Aethelhelm in the Netflix series The Last Kingdom, as Chaim Rumkowski and Old Ezekiel. Alongside him as Rivke Kaufman is Pearl Chanda, notable for her role as Sheila Sim in See How They Run, and Mark Quartley who starred in the hugely popular series The Ipcress Files as Pete, takes the role of Yosef Kaufman. They are joined by James Garnon (SS Wilhelm Koppe), Matthew Spencer (SS Herbert Lange), Olivia Bernstone (Female Ensemble) and Lewis Hart (Male Ensemble).
With casting now complete for his playwriting debut, the acclaimed author Dmitry Glukhovsky was last week been sentenced to eight years in prison by the Russian state following a trial in absentia. Currently living in exile, the writer of the bestselling Metro 2033 series is accused of deliberately spreading false information about Russia’s armed forces; both he and the play’s director, Maxim Didenko, are outspoken critics of the war against Ukraine.
This powerful and urgent new play is inspired by real events, with a haunting contemporary resonance, and will premiere at the Marylebone Theatre this autumn, running from 14 September to 04 November, with press performances on 18/19/20/21 September (*with reviews embargoed until Thursday 21 September at midnight).
Spanning several decades, The White Factory explores the life of Yosef Kaufman, a Holocaust survivor from Lodz, haunted by his wartime experiences as he tries to build a future with his new family in 1960’s Brooklyn. Tormented by the nightmares of his past, Yosef’s attempt to negotiate the weight of his own history becomes a passionate battle for survival and redemption.
This heart-wrenching drama of love, endurance, despair and hope follows one man’s journey from the Lodz ghetto of 1940’s Poland to 1960’s America, where the possibility of a new life is tested to the limit by the remnants of his past.
Written by Dmitry Glukhovsky, directed by Maxim Didenko, with Ukrainian creative producer Ekaterina Kashynsteva, The White Factory will play at Marylebone Theatre from 14 September until 4 November 2023.
