Mark Rylance returns to the West End this summer in the critically acclaimed Bristol Old Vic production of DR SEMMELWEIS, which will play a strictly limited 14-week run at the Harold Pinter Theatre from 29 June to 7 October 2023.
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 when it falls on deaf ears?
In Vienna, a city of artistic and scientific revolution, thousands of women are still dying in childbirth each and every year. Only Dr Semmelweis can see the invisible killer at work, but to stop it, he must convince his colleagues to admit culpability and approve change.
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?
The production features live music by Adrian Sutton and original choreography by Antonia Franceschi of Balanchine’s New York City Ballet. Set and Costume Design is by Ti Green with Lighting Design by Richard Howell. Sonia Friedman Productions and the National Theatre present the Bristol Old Vic Production of DR SEMMELWEIS.
