Visit from an Unknown Woman

“There’s this monstrous idiot – this monstrous elected idiot – who keeps telling his fellow-idiots to throw my books on a bonfire and beat me up in the street…”

Vienna 1934. Stefan is one of the world’s most successful authors – widely read, universally admired, and translated into every language. His is the life of a wealthy playboy, enjoying only the finest things in life – from luxurious world travel to the company of his most dazzling contemporaries in Europe’s most fashionable restaurants. Only two things cloud his prospects: the rise of the Nazi Party, and the sudden appearance of a woman who he clearly knows… but who he cannot, for the life of him, remember…

Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of the short story by Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) receives its English Language premiere following a triumphant run at Vienna’s Josefstadt Theater. Winner of multiple awards including two Oscars, Hampton’s plays include Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Tales from Hollywood and The Philanthropist, and he is celebrated for his translations of Reza and Zeller.

Clare Lizzimore’s previous productions at Hampstead include Amy Rosenthal’s On the Rocks and Nick Payne’s first play Lay Down Your Cross. Other recent productions include Closer (Lyric Hammersmith), Snowflake (Kiln) and Bull (Young Vic), for which she won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.