Thursday 23rd May - 19:30 at the John Clare Theatre

Festen director Thomas Vinterberg storms back to form with this drama about a teacher wrongfully accused of child abuse. Lucas is a recently divorced teacher in a small town in Denmark. He is withdrawn and unsettled: custody of his son has been given to his ex-wife, and a school closure has meant he has lost his job, and been forced to take a lowlier position at a kindergarten nearby. He is a popular member of this close-knit community, whose hard-drinking menfolk go in for boisterous outdoor pursuits and knockabout local traditions, including an annual deer hunt, whose obvious metaphorical possibilities Vinterberg handles with cool confidence. One of Lucas's pupils is Klara, the lonely daughter of Lucas's closest friends.One morning, there is an incident with Klara's yobbish older brother and his mate, which feeds into Klara's muddled need to show her affection for Lucas. He rebukes her, and through over-imagination, hurt feelings and spite, Klara concocts an accusation she forgets about almost the next moment, but which spreads and metastasises in the world of grownup bureaucracy.