David Tennant to star in West End play: the Deadwater Fell actor’s Nazi Germany play 'Good' - and how to get tickets

David Tennant will return to London’s West End to star in a play about how good people could be seduced into joining Nazism.

(Photo: Sasha Haagensen/Getty Images for Amazon Studios )

The Broadchurch and Good Omens actor will play the lead in a revival of CP Taylor’s ‘Good’, described as a “warning for our times”.

The play, originally published in 1981, has been reimagined by theatre director Dominic Cooke, who said Taylor’s “modern classic about the perils of moral compromise is an apposite fable for our troubled times”.

Tennant said: “Dominic is one of the UK’s all-time great theatre directors.

“I am really inspired and delighted to finally get a chance to work with him, and especially on a wonderful play like CP Taylor’s Good – a fantastic bit of writing that is more pertinent and resonant now than it has ever been.”

What happens in Good?

Set in Germany ahead of the Second World War, Good sees Tennant play John Halder, a decent, intelligent, music-loving German professor “who finds himself swept along in a movement that crescendos towards an unthinkable finale”.

Halder is a liberal-minded professor whose best friend is the Jewish Maurice.

But despite his consciousness telling him otherwise, the play tells of how Halder is not only seduced into joining Nazism, but his step-by-rationalised-step to get there, his embracing of the final solution, and his attempts at justifying his terrible actions.

Tennant, whose previous appearances in the West End include roles in Much Ado About Nothing and Don Juan in Soho, will be joined in the production by Judy actress Fenella Woolgar and Coriolanus actor Elliot Levey.

Good has been described as the definitive piece written about the Holocaust in the English-speaking theatre; a film adaptation of the play, featuring Viggo Mortensen as John Halder and directed by Vicente Amorim, was released in 2008.

Who is Dominic Cooke?

Good will be the first production from Cooke’s new company Fictionhouse, which he launched alongside his former Royal Court Theatre colleague Kate Horton.

Cooke, who was the Royal Court’s artistic director from 2007 until 2013, said Good “feels like an exciting first project for Fictionhouse”.

He said: “I have known David Tennant since he was a student and have wanted to work with him ever since.

“He is one of our finest actors and has the ideal combination of wit, warmth and charisma to bring John Halder vividly to life.

“I can’t wait to start work with him and the amazing Elliot Levey and Fenella Woolgar on this dazzling play.”

How do I get tickets?

Good will run at the Playhouse Theatre from 6 October until 19 December.

Between those dates, the play will be performed at 7.30pm Monday – Friday, with an extra matinee show on Saturdays at 2.30pm.

Tickets are available now through ATG Tickets from £20.00, subject to a transaction fee of £3.65