The Guilty

The Guilty description

A police officer takes a 999 call from a woman in danger, and a thriller unfolds in real time over a single night shift in The Guilty.

Joe is a troubled police officer who has been placed on desk duty in an emergency control room. When a call comes in from Emily, a woman who appears to be in serious danger, he has only fragments of information to work with. From his desk, he tries to piece together what is happening at the other end of the line, while a mounting sense takes hold that nothing is quite as it seems.

The play is adapted from the Danish film Den skyldige, written by Gustav Möller and Emil Nygaard Albertsen. The Donmar Warehouse production played a sold-out run at the Donmar in 2026 before transferring to the Harold Pinter Theatre. Performed by one actor, it was called "no less than a white knuckle ride" by The Guardian and "a bloody good real-time thriller" by Time Out, while The Telegraph wrote that "Russell Tovey delivers a solo tour de force".

The script is by Chloë Moss, who won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for This Wide Night and whose television writing includes Call the Midwife and Beyond Paradise. The director is Felix Barrett, founder and artistic director of Punchdrunk, where he created productions including Sleep No More and The Burnt City. He also directed Paranormal Activity in the West End and on Broadway. Set design is by Alex Eales, lighting by Anna Watson, sound by Gareth Fry and video by Luke Halls.

Russell Tovey plays Joe, the role he created at the Donmar. His stage credits include The History Boys at the National Theatre and on Broadway, Angels in America at the National Theatre and A View from the Bridge in the West End. On screen he is known for Being Human, Years and Years and Industry, and for the film Pride.

Book tickets for The Guilty, a real-time thriller told through one emergency call and one performer.

Playing at Harold Pinter Theatre

6 Panton Street, London, SW1Y 4DN GB (venue info)

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