Versailles - the Donmar Warehouse

The distinguished playwright and director Peter Gill has turned his attention to one of the crucial turning points in twentieth century history, the Treaty of Versailles, in a new production to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.

Versailles examines the war’s legacy by focussing on the famous treaty, which drew up the shape of the world in the aftermath of the Great War and arguably led to the conflicts that followed. Protagonist Leonard Rawlinson is one of the British delegates sent to Paris to draft the treaty. Whilst struggling to come to terms with his own personal loss of a colleague, the possible repercussions of the task he has to undertake dawn on him. Meanwhile, back at his family home in Kent, normal life is slowly reasserting itself following the end of the war.

Gill, who has worked at prestigious theatres such as the Royal Court and National Theatre, has a reputation for directing his own plays - as he does with this one. The cast includes Barbara Flynn, a familiar face from the likes of Cranford , New Tricks and Open All Hours , and Helen Bradbury , best-known for her role as Rachel in Upstairs Downstairs . 

It is often observed that plays about the past say more about the time in which they were written than the present day. Perhaps with this in mind, Gill has put a contemporary spin on his rendering of historical events by drawing parallels between the end of the First World War and the current global landscape. He asks difficult questions, such as whether today's world has more in common with that of our ancestors than we might like to think – subjects that will be raised in a series of events to accompany the production, more details of which will follow soon. 

Tickets: £7.50-£35

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