United Kingdom Florian Zeller’s The Truth: Apollo Theatre, London, 24.6.2026. (JH) ****
Florian Zeller’s The Truth, in Christopher Hampton’s elegant translation, arrives in the West End ten years after its UK premiere, and it is a delight.
Beneath the laughter lies a cleverly constructed comedy about deception, self-delusion and the uncomfortable question of whether honesty is always the best policy. The play unfolds almost entirely through the eyes of Michel, a charming narcissist who regards everyone around him as pieces on a chessboard, to be manoeuvred through a combination of deceit, quick wit, charm and sheer bluster. Present in every scene, Michel thinks he is the cleverest person in the room – and for a while you believe him too. He juggles his wife Laurence and his mistress Alice with supreme confidence while privately feeling sorry for, and slightly contemptuous of, his unemployed best friend, Paul, whom he is otherwise happily cuckolding.
The real pleasure of the play is watching that certainty slowly unravel. Almost before Michel – or the audience – realises it, the people he thinks he is manipulating have quietly been running rings round him. The audience shares Michel’s perspective throughout, discovering each revelation at much the same pace as he does, making his gradual loss of certainty both comic and deeply satisfying.
The play opens with Michel under pressure on two fronts. His lover Alice demands greater commitment in the form of a romantic weekend away and repeatedly urges him to tell Paul the truth about their affair. Meanwhile his wife Laurence subjects him to forensic questioning about his increasingly implausible excuses for disappearing. In both situations Michel falls back on his habitual armoury of evasions, half-truths and theatrical indignation, apparently succeeding in talking his way out of trouble once again.
For much of the play Michel steadfastly refuses to confess the affair, convinced that concealment is preferable to honesty. When he finally resolves to tell Paul the truth, expecting an explosive confrontation, the moment is brilliantly undercut. Paul calmly reveals that he has known about Alice’s affair for months, as he himself has been having an affair with Laurence. It is a delicious reversal that punctures Michel’s inflated sense of superiority in an instant.
The last scene introduces a final ambiguity. Michel confronts Laurence about her alleged affair with Paul. She emphatically denies everything, but simultaneously insists that if she were to be unfaithful she would not tell him. But when she hears Paul is relocating to Sweden her stunned reaction to the news seen by the audience suggests that the affair was in fact real, and she is hiding the truth to preserve her marriage. Whether Michel truly believes her — or simply chooses to accept the fiction because it is less painful than the alternative — is left unresolved. The play ends with what appears to be a reconciliation, though one founded on mutual self-deception rather than honesty.
The four-strong cast clearly relish Zeller’s script, and that enjoyment is infectious. Stephen Mangan gives a charismatic performance as Michel, capturing both his swaggering confidence and his increasing bewilderment as events slip beyond his control. Mangan is well known for television roles including The Split, while his stage work includes Alan Ayckbourn’s The Norman Conquests, experience that clearly informs his impeccable comic timing.
Sarah Hadland brings warmth, intelligence and comic flair to Alice. Best known to many audiences as Stevie in sitcom Miranda, and for her performance in Noises Off, she combines humour with an emotional authenticity that prevents the character becoming merely the stereotypical ‘other woman’.
Ardal O’Hanlon’s understated, deadpan style proves perfectly suited to the quietly enigmatic Paul. Long celebrated for Father Ted and Death in Paradise, he allows the character’s apparent passivity to conceal an unexpected emotional intelligence, making the final revelations all the more effective.
Janie Dee lends Laurence a dignity and emotional credibility that provide an effective counterweight to the predominantly comic tone. An Olivier Award-winning actress whose distinguished stage career includes Carousel, A Little Night Music and Follies, Dee ensures that Laurence is far more than the wronged wife, becoming one of the play’s most psychologically complex characters.
Lindsay Posner directs with a light touch and impeccable pace, allowing Zeller’s intricately engineered script to unfold with effortless clarity. The production benefits from Lizzie Clachan’s elegant set and costume design, Richard Howell’s subtle lighting, and Adam Cork’s finely judged sound design, all of which complement rather than compete with the performances.
As the theatre lights come up, Zeller leaves us with a question rather than an answer. Is complete honesty really the foundation of a successful relationship, or are there times when a carefully chosen fiction is kinder? The Truth never insists on a conclusion, and that is part of its enduring appeal. Long after the laughter has died away, the audience is left to decide where the truth really lies.
Perhaps that is why The Truth has endured so well. It is wonderfully funny, beautifully acted and deceptively clever, and leaves you chatting about it on the way home.
Jane Havergal
The Truth is at the Apollo Theatre 31 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 7ES until Saturday 12 September 2026. For further information click here.
Featured Image: Sarah Hadland (Alice) and Stephen Mangan (Michel) © Johan Persson
Cast:
Michel – Stephen Mangan
Alice – Sarah Hadland
Laurence – Janie Dee
Paul – Ardal O’Hanlon
Creatives:
Writer – Florian Zeller
Translator – Christopher Hampton
Director – Lindsay Posner
Set and Costume design – Lizzie Clachan
Lighting designer – Richard Howell
Sound designer – Adam Cork