Mark Rylance returns to the West End this summer in Dr Semmelweis, which opens at the Harold Pinter Theatre.
The critically acclaimed Dr Semmelweis was originally developed by the National Theatre Studio and produced by Bristol Old Vic. The play, in which Rylance reprises the title role, is written by Stephen Brown with Mark Rylance and is directed by Tom Morris.
In a unique theatrical event, he and the cast are joined on stage by 10 ballet dancers and the Salome String Quartet.
“We are the doctors of the modern age. We are marching into battle.”
Mark Rylance returns to the West End as one of medicine’s greatest pioneers, maverick Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis – the man whose research could save many millions of mothers’ lives.
But what good is a discovery that is ignored?
In Vienna, a city of artistic and scientific revolution, thousands of women are still dying in childbirth each and every year. Dr Semmelweis dedicates himself to overcoming the invisible killer but to do so he must convince his colleagues that they themselves are causing the deaths of their patients.
Damned by an establishment that questions his methods, his motives and even his sanity, Semmelweis is haunted by the women he has failed to save. Can he finally convince the greatest doctors of 19th century Europe to accept his argument – and what will it cost him to make an almost impossible case?
With preview tickets from £10 and over 350 tickets a week at £25 or less, the production will play for a strictly limited 14-week run. Public booking is now open.
Harold Pinter Theatre, Panton St, London SW1Y 4DN from 29 June until Saturday 7 October. Times: Mon-Sat 7.30pm; Thur & Sat matinees 2.30pm. Admission: £15 – £195.
Box Office: 0333 009 6690 – www.atgtickets.com
