National Theatre Live: The Misanthrope

A Novelist Who Won't Play Nice

Molière wrote his misanthrope as a man who can't stop telling the truth in a society built on flattery. Martin Crimp's new version turns that figure into Alice, a novelist with no patience left for the era's soft language of kindness and respect, and the National Theatre cast Sandra Oh, best known for Killing Eve, in the title role.

Indhu Rubasingham, the National Theatre's director, staged the production at the Lyttelton Theatre through the summer, with Tom Mison, Paul Chahidi and Abigail Cruttenden as the friends and colleagues who start keeping their distance as Alice refuses to soften her opinions. The Sunday Times called it "gloriously off-kilter." This screening is the filmed version, sent out to cinemas nationwide a matter of weeks after the stage run closed.

Watching someone get punished for saying exactly what she thinks still makes for a very good night out.

Sunday 27 September 2026 · The Barn Theatre, 5 Beeches Road, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 1BN · Starts 7:00pm