The Guilty ★★★★ Donmar Warehouse | Jun 20 - Aug 15, 2026


Based on the 2018 Danish film Den Skyldige, directed by Gustav Möller, Chloë Moss's The Guilty is a taut, expertly constructed thriller that derives its tension from what cannot be seen. Joe is a police officer confined to a 999 call desk while awaiting a disciplinary hearing. Restless and dismissive of the endless stream of minor emergencies that are reported, he is jolted into action when he receives a desperate appeal from a woman who appears to have been abducted by her estranged husband. This is a one-man show in every sense, and Russell Tovey commands the stage with remarkable assurance. He inhabits Joe so completely that the audience experiences every surge of frustration, every flicker of hope and every crushing setback alongside him. Confined to his desk, Joe can do nothing but listen, question and direct others. The audience shares his predicament, becoming equally powerless observers who, like Joe, can only piece together events through fragments of conversation while longing to intervene and influence the outcome. Tovey manages to generate extraordinary dramatic momentum from stillness alone, while Joe's growing desperation is intensified by the uncomfortable parallels between the case and his own fractured relationship with his wife and child. The performance achieves an emotional depth that extends far beyond the mechanics of the thriller. Moss's adaptation skilfully exploits the audience's instinct to leap to conclusions. Each revelation overturns what seemed certain, exposing the danger of assumption and the cost of clinging to simple narratives. The mounting suspense is matched by an increasingly probing examination of guilt, accountability and the necessity of confronting the truth, however painful it may be. Set entirely within the confines of the call centre, The Guilty transforms a single room into a pressure cooker of moral uncertainty and emotional tension. It is a thriller that trusts its audience to listen as closely as its protagonist, rewarding that attention with a compelling exploration of perception, responsibility and truth.

Rated: ★★★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Helen Murray

When, Where, Getting there:
Map & Location: 41 Earlham St, London WC2H 9LX, UK

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