Silence of the Lambs stage play announces its Hannibal Lecter

Exclusive: The world stage premiere of The Silence of the Lambs will debut this August – and casting has been revealed.

The play is adapted by Gina Gionfriddo from Thomas Harris’s novel and directed by Nikolai Foster. The story follows FBI trainee Clarice Starling as she interviews psychiatrist and convicted murderer Hannibal Lecter in the hope that his insight will help catch a serial killer known as Buffalo Bill.

Harris’s novels featuring Lecter have sold over 50 million copies worldwide and inspired multiple film and television adaptations. The Silence of the Lambs was first published in 1988 and remains a landmark in the thriller genre, famously being turned into a seminal psychological thriller of the same name starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.

Set to star as Lecter will be John Partridge, who said today: “How often does an actor get to play a role that by simply saying the character’s name, it takes your breath away. It’s a huge honour, and I intend to savour every morsel of it!”

Foster added: “Taking on a role like Hannibal Lecter requires real guts, tenacity and an appetite to confront the darkest depths of the human condition. Working with John on the role has been incredibly inspiring – his instincts are razor sharp – and there is no finer actor to bring to life Thomas Harris’s most chilling creation in our world premiere stage adaptation.”

It will open at Curve, Leicester, where it runs from 1 to 15 August 2026 before a UK and Ireland tour, stopping in Newcastle, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Milton Keynes, Salford, Bradford, Oxford, Peterborough, Hull, Belfast, Dublin, Birmingham, Blackpool, Eastbourne, Malvern, Swansea, Chester, Brighton, Tunbridge Wells, York, Coventry, Richmond, Cheltenham, Bournemouth, Wolverhampton, Cardiff, Buxton, Woking, Liverpool, Sunderland and other venues through 2027.

Full creative team and casting, including for Clarisse, will be announced later.

It is produced by Indigo Productions and Crossroads Live, in association with Curve.

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