An Oak Tree, The National Theatre

An Oak Tree: play with a difference
One play, one performing playwright, and a different actor every night, with no time to read the rehearse -- or even read the script. These are the ingredients for Tim Crouch's Obie Award winning play An Oak Tree. Those that saw Adler and Gibb at the Royal Court in 2014 will already be privy to the original and mischievous creations of actor, director and playwright Tim Crouch. An Oak Tree, one of his earlier works which has impressed on Broadway and in London's Soho Theatre, will be revived at the National Theatre summer 2015 to celebrate 10 years since its premiere.
A 'raw stage experience' 
Crouch himself plays a hypnotist conversing with a grieving father who believes that he has turned his deceased daughter (killed in a car accident by the hypnotist) into a tree. Slightly bonkers stuff made even more intriguing by the fact that the father could be played by anyone, from a middle aged man to an 18 year old girl – it'll be different every night. "The play seems to connect with an actor's sense of their beginnings," says Crouch "they want the raw stage experience that got them into acting in the first place, without having to repeat it seven times a week for three months."
An Oak Tree - guest stars 
An Oak Tree already has quite the following in the theatre world – among its previous guest actors have been the likes of Sophie Okonedo, Mike Myers and Christopher Eccleston. Who knows which famous faces may crop up at this National run, but one thing that we can be certain of is that this is no ordinary night at the theatre. A little gimmicky, yes, but the success that An Oak Tree has enjoyed over the last ten years certainly suggests that it's worth taking a chance on.

National Theatre: An Oak Tree Tickets and booking
Booking opens at 8:30am on Thursday 12th February.