Visit from an Unknown Woman

There's this monstrous idiot - this monstrous elected idiot - who keeps telling his fellow-idiots to throw my books on a bonfire and beat me up in the street. Vienna, 1934. Stefan is a successful author - widely read, universally admired, and translated into every language. His is the life of the wealthy playboy, enjoying only the finest luxuries, the toast of cultured European society. Only two things cloud his prospects: the rise of the Nazi Party, and the sudden appearance of a woman who he must know but cannot for the life of him remember. Christopher Hampton's adaptation of the short story by Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) received its English Language premiere at Hampstead Theatre, London, in June 2024.

Christopher Hampton was born in the Azores in 1946. He wrote his first play, When Did You Last See My Mother?, at the age of eighteen. Since then, his plays have included The Philanthropist, Savages, Tales from Hollywood, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, White Chameleon, The Talking Cure, Appomattox and A German Life. Appomattox was turned into an opera by Philip Glass in 2014. He has translated plays by Ibsen, Molière, von Horváth, Chekhov and Yasmina Reza (including Art and Life x 3). He has translated seven plays by Florian Zeller, including The Father and The Son, both of which he subsequently co-wrote for the screen with Florian Zeller, winning an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Father in 2021. Musicals include Rebecca, Stephen Ward, Sunset Boulevard and The Third Man. His television work includes adaptations of The History Man, Hôtel du Lac and The Singapore Grip. His screenplays include The Honorary Consul, The Good Father, Dangerous Liaisons, Mary Reilly, Total Eclipse, The Quiet American, Atonement, Cheri, A Dangerous Method, Ali & Nino, Carrington, The Secret Agent and Imagining Argentina, the last three of which he also directed.