Rosie O'Donnell and Adjoa Andoh are to lead a star-studded London play about the Gisele Pelicot mass rape trial
From the Newshound archive · first published 6 October 2026 · last updated 7 October 2026.
Gisèle Pelicot, who waived her right to anonymity declaring the burden of shame belonged with her abusers, is the subject of a new London play drawing on trial transcripts and psychiatric assessments of the 51 men…Rosie O'Donnell, who appeared on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!', will co-lead the cast of 30 actors and public figures in the one-off staging, live-streamed worldwide free of charge.
A one-off staging of 'The Pelicot Trial', created by Swiss director Milo Rau, will be performed at London County Hall on 30 November and live-streamed worldwide at no charge. The production draws on trial transcripts, police files and psychiatric assessments of the 51 men prosecuted for raping Gisèle Pelicot while her then-husband Dominique Pelicot kept her drugged and unconscious. It will close the Young Vic Theatre's 2026/27 season, with a cast of 30 actors and public figures.
Dominique Pelicot was jailed for 20 years for drugging and raping his wife and allowing others to rape her over nearly a decade.
The cast also includes Julie Hesmondhalgh, Tamzin Outhwaite, Olivia Williams, Juliet Stevenson and Samuel West, with further names to be announced.
Gisèle Pelicot waived her right to anonymity, declaring that the burden of shame belonged with those who abused her, not with her.
