The Red Barn

The new work by David Hare arrives at the National this October

David Hare's newest play is based on Belgian detective novelist Georges Simenon's novel La Main, and provides a startling new take on the original story with Mark Strong and Hope Davis in the leads. Published by Simenon in 1968 after moving to The States in 1945, the novel focuses on one man's struggles with jealousy and depression, when faced with the apparent death of a friend. Following recent high profile successes Skylight, Judas Kiss and The Hours, Hare's newest adaptation takes the story into taut thriller territory, following two couples who leave after an upscale reception in snowy Connecticut - but they don't all get home safely. The action moves back and forth through a four-month period, showing events leading up to that night.

As those who make it to a remote New England farmhouse to wait out the blizzard, one of the characters Donald is sent back out to look for his missing friend Ray- but his personal issues with alcohol addiction and animosity towards Ray - which will be uncovered throughout the timeshifts - cause him to hide out in the barn instead. Will Ray make it back alive? Or will Dodd be forced to confront his demons the next morning?