A leader of men, a captain at nineteen, AND a hopeless romantic.

Edmond Dantes - illiterate young sailor of Marseilles - is drawn into conspiring with the exiled Napoleon and imprisoned for ten years.

Incarcerated in a desolate gaol with no one but a mad monk for company, Dantes begins an unconventional education.

As his enemies become more powerful, all hope of justice and of a reunion with his sweetheart appear to be gone.

Still, Dantes clings to hope. Eventually, his chance comes, he escapes his prison, adopts a disguise and the Count of Monte Cristo is born.

In this new adaptation by award winning playwright Richard Bean, Alexandre Dumas' classic tale comes to the National Theatre in a theatrical adventure for family audiences.