Tom Hiddleston among the line-up to read poetry at National Theatre as part of Ukraine fundraiser

The National Theatre will be holding an evening of poetry reading next week to benefit the Disaster Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

Reading extracts from Allie Esiri’s best-selling poetry anthologies on the Olivier stage will be Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Asa Butterfield (Sex Education), Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù (Gangs of London), Kate Fleetwood (King Lear) and Ukranian actor Dária Plahtíy (Battle for Sevastopol), led by Esiri herself.

The evening will also feature a pre-recorded reading by Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown) and live on-stage drawings by illustrator Chris Riddell.

Esiri commented: “Poetry can stop and make us think and feel. About love, loss, hope – and our shared experiences as humans. That is the aim of this Poetry for Every Day of the Year event which I am honoured to host: to reach out in solidarity to the brave people of Ukraine through the beauty of words, brought to life on stage at our beloved National Theatre by an extraordinary cast of actors. My hope is that the evening will be filled with as much laughter as tears, and that you will leave full of hope for the people of this war-torn nation. In return, we ask that you donate as generously as you can to the Ukraine appeal so that, in some small way at least, our words may become actions in the fight against oppression.”

A recording will be made available to watch on the National Theatre’s YouTube channel from Thursday 6 April at 7pm.

The event itself will take place on Friday 17 Match at 5:45pm, with tickets on sale now from the National Theatre’s website.