Initial casting has been announced for the world premiere stage adaptation of psychological thriller The Silence of the Lambs.
Producers Indigo Productions and Crossroads Live, in association with Curve, have today announced that West End and EastEnders star John Partridge will lead the world premiere stage adaptation of Thomas Harris’s psychological masterpiece, The Silence of the Lambs.
This major new drama is touring the UK and Ireland in 2026, starting at Leicester’s Curve theatre on 1 August 2026.
Book tickets for The Silence of the Lambs UK & Ireland Tour.
Taking on Hannibal Lecter
John Partridge, a household name for his long-running role as Christian Clarke in EastEnders and his extensive West End career (CATS, Cabaret, Chicago), takes on the legendary role of the refined yet sadistic psychiatrist, Dr Hannibal Lecter.
Partridge said of the casting: “How often does an actor get to play a role that by simply saying the character’s name, it takes your breath away. It’s a huge honour, and I intend to savour every morsel of it!”
Director Nikolai Foster (Kinky Boots) praised Partridge’s “razor-sharp” instincts, noting that taking on a role like Lecter requires “real guts, tenacity, and an appetite to confront the darkest depths of the human condition.”
From screen to stage
While the story of The Silence of the Lambs famously became a five-time Oscar-winning film starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster, this new production returns to the psychological intensity of Thomas Harris’s original 1988 novel.
Adapted by award-winning writer Gina Gionfriddo (House of Cards, Law & Order), the play delves into the intricate game of cat-and-mouse between FBI trainee Clarice Starling and the incarcerated Dr Lecter. As Clarice attempts to elicit Lecter’s help in catching the serial killer “Buffalo Bill,” she must decide how close she is willing to let a monster get to her mind.
A warning for audiences
This play is not for the faint-hearted. Producers are already warning that the production will feature psychological intensity and childhood trauma; scenes of threat, violence, and murder; and mutilation, body horror, and onstage prosthetic human remains.
Tour dates
The Silence of the Lambs opens at the Curve theatre in Leicester on 1 August 2026, and then tours to over 30 venues including Newcastle, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Milton Keynes, Salford, Bradford, Oxford, Peterborough, Hull, Belfast, Dublin, Birmingham, Blackpool, Eastbourne, Malvern, Swansea, Chester, Brighton, Tunbridge Wells, York, Coventry, London Richmond, Cheltenham, Bournemouth, Wolverhampton, Cardiff, Buxton, Woking, Liverpool, and Sunderland.
The play’s London dates, at Richmond Theatre, are 6 to 10 April 2027.
Book tickets to The Silence of the Lambs UK & Ireland tour
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