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We'll tell you as soon as tickets go on sale:
Suitable for ages 12+
Performance dates
20 August - 05 October 2019
Run time: To be confirmed.
Includes interval
43 reviews
★★★★★
‘Truly theatrical. Swivels brilliantly between tragedy and farce.’
The Observer
★★★★★
‘Stunningly political and superbly theatrical.’
The Stage
★★★★
‘A surprising, theatrical, watchable night ends with a whack of seriousness.’
The Sunday Times
★★★★
‘Funny and frequently exhilarating piece of theatre.’
Time Out
★★★★
‘A uniquely theatrical spectacle.’
The Guardian
Based on the Guardian/Faber book by Luke Harding
WORLD PREMIERE
A shocking assassination in the heart of London. In a bizarre mix of high-stakes global politics and radioactive villainy, a man pays with his life.
At this time of global crises and a looming new Cold War, A Very Expensive Poison sends us careering through the shadowy world of international espionage from Moscow to Mayfair.
John Crowley (Brooklyn, The Goldfinch) directs Lucy Prebble’s (The Effect, ENRON) reimagining of Luke Harding’s jaw-dropping exposé of the events behind the notorious death of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.
Lucy Prebble's play A Very Expensive Poison received its world premiere at London's Old Vic Theatre back in August 2019.
3 Mar, 2020 | By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels
Daring playwright Lucy Prebble is taking the Alexander Litvinenko assassination straight to the London theatre stage at the end of this month and rehearsals for The Old Vic premiere are in full swing. Have a look at the rehearsal photos for A Very Expensive Poison below and be sure to catch this provocative new play when it opens on 24 August.
6 Aug, 2019 | By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels
He's no whistleblower per se, but Luke Harding has certainly been flirting with espionage and corruption coverage (with an emphasis on Russian politics) ever since he became a foreign correspondent for The Guardian. The upcoming stage play, A Very Expensive Poison, which was adapted by Lucy Prebble, is not the first time Harding's work has entered the entertainment business. His 2014 novel, The Snowden Files, for example, inspired the critically-acclaimed 2016 Snowden film. Now with the play's highly-anticipated world premiere at The Old Vic Theatre just around the corner, there's no better time than now to review Harding's illustrious life and career.
5 Aug, 2019 | By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels
Full casting has been announced for the highly-anticipated world premiere of Lucy Prebble's A Very Expensive Poison, which opens at the Old Vic Theatre in London on 24 August 2019 for a strictly limited run as part of the venue's Fifth Season with Matthew Warchus as Artistic Director. Based on Luke Harding's tell-all book of the same name about the radioactive poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, A Very Expensive Poison is set to open the new Old Vic season with a politically-charged bang.
5 Jul, 2019 | By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels
This upcoming play about politics and radioactive villainy was first announced as a brand-new piece for Part Two of The Old Vic's Fourth Season before ultimately being delayed and later added to the Old Vic Theatre's Fifth Season. But now that the show has finally left development limbo, rest assured London theatre fans can finally get a taste of A Very Expensive Poison (not that kind of taste) at The Old Vic Theatre this August. But what exactly is this new Lucy Prebble play about and what are some of the key facts you should know about this daring new production? Find out below!
20 Jun, 2019 | By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels