Total Eclipse

New production of Christopher Hampton's first stage play Total Eclipse.

The production will star Daniel Evans and Jamie Doyle as the French poets Verlaine and Rimbaud both caught in a desperate and destructive relationship. Daniel Evans has recently been recognised in the Olivier Award nominations for his role as George in Sunday in the Park with George which began its life at the Chocolate Factory in 2005 and has garnered 6 nominations in this year's Olivier Awards. This role will mark his return to the London stage after the very successful West End transfer of Sunday in the Park.

Total Eclipse is the story of renowned 19th century French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine, who endured a passionate and volatile relationship that has inspired generations of artists from Picasso and TS Eliot to Jim Morrison and Bob Dylan.

Verlaine is living with his young wife Mathilde in the oppressive atmosphere of her parents' home when his life is turned upside down by the arrival of teenage prodigy Rimbaud. Seduced by his brilliance and beauty, Verlaine abandons his conventional existence to live an extraordinary life unbound by rules or convention. But the explosive world in which he and Rimbaud exist cannot last forever. Impoverished, transient and trapped in a destructive romantic triangle, something - or someone - has to give

Christopher Hampton is perhaps best known for his 1985 play Les Liaisons Dangereuses, later written as a screenplay for the Oscar winning film Dangerous Liaisons. Total Eclipse, his first play, premiered at the Royal Court in 1968 and was revised in 1981 for a production directed by David Hare and starring Simon Callow at the Lyric Hammersmith. This revival sees the return to the Chocolate Factory of Oliver award winner Daniel Evans as Verlaine, following his hugely successful performance playing George Seurat in Sunday In The Park With George. Jamie Doyle (Channel 4's Shameless) plays the young genius Rimbaud with Paul Miller (Royal Court, National) directing.