Imogen Stubbs Returns to the Tabard as Leni Riefenstahl
Local theatre the first leg of a national tour of A Thing of Beauty
Tony Bell, Harry Rundle & Imogen Stubbs in A Thing of Beauty. Picture: Matt Hunter
October 20, 2026
Imogen Stubbs is to return to Chiswick in the role of Leni Riefenstahl next year as A Thing of Beauty embarks on a UK tour, following sell-out success at the Tabard Theatre earlier in 2026.
The play, written by Wendy Oberman and Jonathan Lewis, returns to the question that has long haunted Riefenstahl’s legacy: how should we remember an artist whose technical brilliance is inseparable from the propaganda machine she served.
The 2027 tour opens back at the Tabard Theatre from 1–6 February — with an extra date added due to demand — before travelling to venues across the country: the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham (9–10 February), the Lowry in Salford (11–13 February), The North Wall Arts Centre in Oxford (15–18 February), the Garage Theatre in Norwich (19–21 February), the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford (23–27 February) and finally Theatre Royal Windsor (2–6 March).
Set in October 1972, the play imagines a fictional encounter between Riefenstahl and Harry Adams, a BBC documentary-maker whose own personal struggles mirror the tensions of the interview he is trying to conduct. What begins as a professional exchange becomes a charged meeting of ambition, ego, fear and desire. Through this imagined conversation, the play explores the contradictions of Riefenstahl’s life: a filmmaker whose innovations shaped modern cinema, yet whose reputation remains overshadowed by her work for the Nazi regime.
A Thing of Beauty asks whether it is ever possible — or desirable — to separate art from the artist. In an era of contested truth, cultural revisionism and public debate over accountability, the play positions Riefenstahl as a case study in how propaganda works, how charisma can distort memory, and how creative achievement can be weaponised.
Imogen Stubbs and a poster for the play
The production is led by Cahoots Theatre Company, with Denise Silvey as producer. Jonathan Lewis directs, with design by Juliette Demoulin, lighting by Mark Dymock and sound by Simon Slater. Further casting will be announced ahead of the tour.
Book tickets here.
More information and full tour details are available at athingofbeautyplay.co.uk.
Tabard Theatre is at 2 Bath Road, W4 1LW just next to Turnham Green tube station.
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