Full Cast Set For London Première of FAREWELL MISTER HAFFMANN at Park Theatre

The cast has been announced for the London première of Jean-Philippe Daguerre's Farewell Mister Haffmann adapted by Jeremy Sams. Oscar Toeman directs Michael Fox (Pierre Vigneau), Nigel Harman (Otto Abetz), Jennifer Kirby (Isabelle Vigneau), Jemima Rooper (Suzanne Abetz) and Alex Waldmann (Joseph Haffmann).

Farewell Mister Haffmann, originally written in French, debuted as Adieu Monsieur Haffmann in France (receiving four Moliere Awards in 2018). The production received its critically acclaimed English-language premiere at the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath in 2023, again produced by Norel Productions and Adam Blanshay Productions. This London première, in a new production by Toeman, opens at Park200 on 10 March, with previews from 5 March, and runs until 12 April.

Producers Keren Misgav Ristvedt and Adam Blanshay today said, "We are delighted to welcome this glorious cast and team to this new production of Farewell Mister Haffmann in Park Theatre. We cannot wait to delve into the rehearsal room and discover this play anew for London audiences to enjoy!"

Cast includes: Michael Fox (Pierre Vigneau), Nigel Harman (Otto Abetz), Jennifer Kirby (Isabelle Vigneau), Jemima Rooper (Suzanne Abetz), Alex Waldmann (Joseph Haffmann)

Director: Oscar Toeman; Designer: Rebecca Brower; Lighting Designer: Christopher Nairne;
Sound Designer & Composer: Asaf Zohar; Casting Director: Amy Blair;

Costume Supervisor: Mark Jones; Movement and Intimacy Director: Christina Fulcher

One of France's most successful and long-running plays, and a winner of four Molière Awards, Farewell Mister Haffmann makes its London première.

Set in 1942 in Nazi-occupied Paris, Jewish jeweller Joseph Haffmann faces imminent danger as Jews are being rounded up across the city for deportation. Desperate, Joseph turns to his trusted employee Pierre Vigneau for help.

In a risky and unconventional deal, he transfers ownership of his jewellery shop to Pierre in exchange for being hidden from the Nazis. But the deal comes with an unexpected condition: in return for hiding him from the Nazis, Pierre requests that Joseph enter into a particular arrangement with his wife, Isabelle. This unusual request raises the stakes, as the three of them find themselves struggling with the dangers and moral complexities of their situation.

A Matisse painting and an art loving Nazi officer and his flamboyant wife complicate matters further for Pierre, Isabelle and Joseph. As the marital pressures and absurd demands pile up, their deal teeters on the edge of collapse.

Blending dark humour and suspense against the background of unprecedented times, this play shines a light on human resilience in the face of impossible choices. 

Jean-Philippe Daguerre is a French writer and director. His work over the last 20 years includes Paroles de Prévert, Le Médecin malgré lui, Les Contes des 1001 Nuits, Alice au Pays des Merveilles, Aladin, Cyrano de Bergerac and Le Cid.  Jean-Philippe Daguerre is also the Artistic Director of Le Grenier de Babouchka Company. He was nominated for Molière Awards in 2016 for Aladin, in 2017 for Scapin and in 2018 for Le Malade Imaginaire and Clérambard. In 2018, the play Adieu Monsieur Haffmann, which he wrote and directed, won four Molière awards. Since then, he wrote and directed La Famille Ortiz, Le Petit Coiffeur, Le Voyage de Molière, La Chambre des merveilles and Huitième ciel.

Jeremy Sams is a translator, director, composer and playwright. His translations and adaptations have been used at the National Theatre, on Broadway, in the West End, as well at ENO and the Metropolitan Opera New York. He has directed and written music for many shows at the National Theatre, on Broadway, in the West End and pretty much everywhere else. His most recent credits are What's in a name?, Edmond de Bergerac and Roman Holiday (Bath); The Lavender Hill Mob and The Good Life (UK tours); as well as the operas Flight (Royal College of Music) and Die Fledermaus (The Met).

Michael Fox plays Pierre Vigneau. His theatre work includes The Fear of 13 (Donmar Warehouse), Othello (Riverside Studios), Clybourne Park (Park Theatre), Kerry Jackson (National Theatre), All in a Row, A Lie of the Mind (Southwark Playhouse) and An Enemy of the People (Chichester Festival Theatre). His television credits include Downton Abbey (as series regular Andrew Barker) and Endeavour; and for film, Downton Abbey: A New Era, Downton Abbey, Dunkirk and Good People.

Nigel Harman plays Otto Abetz. His theatre work includes The Da Vinci Code, Shrek the Musical, Glengarry Glen Ross (UK tour), What's in a Name? (Birmingham REP), I Can't Sing (The London Palladium), A Chorus of Disapprovals (Harold Pinter Theatre), The School for Scandal (Theatre Royal Bath), True West (Sheffield Theatres), and Guys and Dolls (Piccadilly Theatre). His television work includes Casualty (as series regular Dr Max Christie), EastEnders (as series regular Dennis Rickman), Tell Me Everything, We Hunt Together, Downton Abbey and Mount Pleasant; and for film, Blood Diamond and Telstar. 

Jennifer Kirby plays Isabelle Vigneau. Her theatre credits include Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play (Young Vic Theatre, Royal Exchange Theatre), The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary (Jermyn Street Theatre), Teddy (UK tour), Henry V, Henry IV Part One and Two (RSC), The Recruiting Officer (Salisbury Playhouse), and Pride and Prejudice (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre). For television, her credits include Call the Midwife (as series regular Valerie Dyer) and Vampire Academy.

Jemima Rooper plays Suzanne Abetz. Her theatre credits include [BLANK] (Donmar Warehouse), Orpheus Descending (Theatr Clwyd, Menier Chocolate Factory), Little Shop of Horrors (Regents Park Open Air Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Young Vic), The Norman Conquests (Chichester Festival Theatre), Hand to God (Vaudeville), Blithe Spirit (Harold Pinter Theatre, North American tour), Breeders (St James Theatre), One Man, Two Guvnors (National Theatre, Theatre Royal Haymarket, Music Box Theatre), All My Sons (Apollo Theatre), Me and My Girl (Sheffield Theatres), The Great Game: Cycle of Afghan (Kiln Theatre), The Power of Yes, Her Naked Skin (National Theatre), A Respectable Wedding (The Young Vic), Us and Them (Hampstead Theatre), Where We Do Live and Worker's Writes (Royal Court Theatre). Her television credits include Geek Girl, The Inheritance, Grantchester, The Sister Boniface Mysteries, The Split, Flowers in the Attic: The Origin, The Girlfriend Experience, Gold Digger, Silent Witness, Father Brown, Trauma, Fearless, Atlantis, Lost in Austen, As If and Famous Five; and for film, Matriarch, What If, One Chance, Come Dancing, Kinky Boots, The Black Dahlia, Hex, A Sound of Thunder, Snapshots, The Railway Children, Dance, Summer in the Suburbs and Owd Bob.

Alex Waldmann plays Joseph Haffmann. His theatre credits include Arms and the Man, The Mikvah Project (Orange Tree Theatre), Jew. In Their Own Words (Royal Court Theatre), The Fever Syndrome (Hampstead Theatre), Youth Without God (Coronet Theatre), Julius Caesar (RSC, Barbican Theatre), In the Night Time (Before the Sun Rises) (Gate Theatre), The Wars of the Roses (Rose Theatre), King John (Shakespeare's Globe). His television credits include Missing You, Strike Back 7; and for film, Scoop, Julius Caesar and Complete Walk.

Oscar Toeman directs. He is currently the Baylis Director at The Old Vic. His theatre directing credits include The Misfortune of the English, The Sugar Syndrome (Orange Tree Theatre), Actually (Trafalgar Studios), The Big Lie (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Still Fools (Arcola Theatre), Winter's Tales (The Coronet Theatre), After October and Laburnum Grove (Finborough Theatre). As Associate Director his credits include The Constituent (The Old Vic), and Oslo (National Theatre, Harold Pinter Theatre). As dramaturg, his credits include Feeling Afraid as If Something Terrible is Going to Happen (Summerhall, Edinburgh). He has received the JMK Award Runner Up prize and has twice been a finalist for the Peter Hall RTST Award.

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