Adam Blanshay Productions and Norel Productions today announce initial casting for Jean-Philippe Daguerre’s Farewell Mister Haffmann, the English language world première of one of France’s most successful new plays, which will open at Bath Theatre Royal in August.
Translated by Jeremy Sams, this new play will be directed by Lindsay Posner with a cast including Alexander Hanson, Lisa Dillon and Ciarán Owens, with further casting to be announced. The production opens at the Ustinov in Bath Theatre Royal on 31 August, with previews from 24 August, and runs until 23 September.
The French play Adieu Monsieur Haffman by Jean-Philippe Daguerre has been a commercial and critical success in France, winning four Molière Awards, including Best New Play. It has been one of the longest running plays in France and was recently made into a film starring Daniel Auteil.
Jean-Philippe Daguerre said today, “It’s an honour to collaborate with this esteemed team bringing my play to life for the first time in the English language. It’s such a wonderful gift as a playwright, and I cannot wait to see the production.”
Lindsay Posner added, “Set in Nazi occupied Paris Farewell Mister Haffmann provides an entertaining and moving exploration of individual and collective moral dilemmas. This play’s political relevance cannot be over-estimated.”
Opening at the Ustinov Studio in Bath Theatre Royal, this will be the English language world première of Jeremy Sams’ translation of Jean-Philippe Daguerre’s play, directed by Lindsay Posner, one of the UK’s most accomplished directors.
The year is 1942. Paris is under Nazi occupation. Jews are being rounded up. Joseph Haffmann, a Jewish owner of a jewellery shop and his long- standing employee Pierre Vigneau change roles as part of a strange deal which could only take place against the background of an absurd and tragic reality. Joseph Haffmann will transfer the ownership of the jewellery store to Pierre, but asks that Pierre hides him from the Nazis. In return, Pierre insists that that Joseph enter a very unusual arrangement with Isabelle, Pierre’s wife.
Add to that a Matisse painting, an ‘art loving’ Nazi officer and his outrageous wife, marital difficulties amplified by the bizarre domestic situation, it is no wonder that Pierre is driven to the brink.
Director Lindsay Posner returns to the Ustinov Studio fresh from his widely acclaimed production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? One of the UK’s most accomplished directors, his recent productions in Bath include Noises Off, God of Carnage, Stone in his Pockets, She Stoops to Conquer and Hay Fever.
