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The Hunt, Almeida Theatre, London
Thomas Vinterberg’s film about a teacher wrongly accused of child abuse gets a powerful stage adaptation
Claustrophobic: The Hunt [Marc Brenner]

WHEN the caring Lucas, the sole kindergarten teacher in a small rural Danish town, gently reproves the innocent advances of the loveless five-year-old Klara, her hurt feelings unintentionally lead her to accuse him of having indecently exposed himself.

The stiflingly repressed locals readily accept her version of events and they proceed to hound the innocent Lucas (Tobias Menzies). Emotionally inhibited and with his marriage on the rocks, he can only silently communicate his affection for his infant charges, his son and his estranged friends.

He becomes the ready prey of his erstwhile companions, with his bottled-up courage only enraging them further.

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