Sophie Okonedo Leads Donmar Warehouse's A Month in the Country as Rehearsal Photos Released
The Donmar Warehouse has released first-look rehearsal photographs for its upcoming production of A Month in the Country, with Sophie Okonedo leading the cast as Natalya Petrovna. The images, taken by photographer Helen Murray, offer an early glimpse of the production ahead of its opening later this month. WhatsOnStage
Lyndsey Turner directs. The play is Brian Friel's adaptation of Ivan Turgenev's 19th-century Russian drama — a story of simmering desire and emotional unravelling set over a long summer on a country estate. Friel, best known for his own play Translations, reshaped Turgenev's text into a version that has become a staple of the modern stage.
The production runs at the Donmar Warehouse — a 251-seat venue in Covent Garden known for intimate, actor-driven work — from 22 August to 3 October 2026, with a press night on 2 September. WhatsOnStage
Okonedo is an Olivier and BAFTA award winner whose stage credits include Antony and Cleopatra at the National Theatre. She leads a cast of thirteen that spans established names and newer faces: Thomas Arnold as Arkady Islayev, Jessica Brindle as Katya, Susan Brown as Anna Islayeva, Rachelle Diedericks as Vera Aleksandrovna, Patrick Gibson as Aleksey Belyayev, Mark Hadfield as Herr Schaaf, Michael Hodgson as Alfanasy Bolshintsov, Jonathan Livingstone as Matvey, Alistair Petrie as Michel Rakitin, Daniel Rigby as Ignaty Shpigelsky, Amanda Wilkin as Lizaveta Bogdanovna, and Sofia Armella Lerdo. WhatsOnStage; Donmar Warehouse
Behind the scenes, the creative team is led by designer Leslie Travers, with lighting by Tim Lutkin, sound by Max Pappenheim, and music composed by Angus MacRae. Anna Morrissey serves as movement director and intimacy coordinator — a role that choreographs physical contact between performers with attention to safety and consent. Lotte Hines is the casting director. WhatsOnStage
The Donmar, currently an Arts Council England national portfolio organisation — meaning it receives regular public funding from the national arts funder — has a long track record of staging classic plays in close-up configurations that large commercial houses cannot replicate. A production of A Month in the Country in a space this size puts the audience within metres of the cast, which is the kind of staging the play's slow-burn, character-driven structure rewards.
For anyone planning to go, the run is six weeks long. The Donmar's compact auditorium means fewer seats than most West End houses, and short runs with high-profile leads tend to book quickly.
