Acclaimed National Theatre Production Comes to Newcastle Theatre Royal
One of the most eagerly anticipated dramas of the year, National Theatre's critically-acclaimed production of The Ocean at the End of the Lane, is coming to Newcastle Theatre Royal for a scintillating two-week run (Tuesday 11th-Saturday 22nd July 2023)
Charlie Brooks, known to millions for her role in the long running BBC soap EastEnders, will be playing Ursula.
The cast includes Wallsend-born actor Trevor Fox (Dad) alongside Daniel Cornish (alternate Boy), Emma-Jane Goodwin (understudy), Paolo Guidi (ensemble), Millie Hikasa (Lettie Hempstock), Lewis Howard (understudy), Kemi-Bo Jacobs (Ginnie Hempstock), Ronnie Lee (ensemble), Aimee McGoldrick (ensemble), Laurie Ogden (Sis), Keir Ogilvy (Boy), Domonic Ramsden (ensemble), Joe Rawlinson-Hunt (understudy), Risha Silvera (understudy) and Finty Williams, daughter of Dame Judi Dench (Old Mrs Hempstock).
Neil Gaiman is known for his graphic novels, including The Sandman series (this has been made into a major new Netflix series which, in its first 10 days, was watched for over 198 million hours by audiences around the world); his novels for adults and children including Stardust, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book; and multiple film and television projects including Good Omens and Anansi Boys.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane was the winner of the Book of the Year at the 2013 National Book Awards and has sold more than 1.2 million copies worldwide. This first major stage adaptation blends magic with memory in a tour-de-force of storytelling that takes audiences on an epic journey to a childhood once forgotten and the darkness that lurks at the very edge of it.
Neil Gaiman says: ‘About 10 minutes before the end (of the first run through) I realised that I had tears running down my face. I went home and said to my wife “this is amazing”. There are moments of utter theatrical magic, but the things that demolish me emotionally are the moments of forgiveness, or a hug between two characters. The internet phrase for it is “all the feels” and really it is the emotion that I hope people will take away. I’d love it if you took away what it was like to be a kid and to have less power. And of course there is the astonishing puppetry and magic. I had always dreamed of stage magic being used for seamless illusion. This is always in service of the story, but you’re going to see miracles.’
Returning to his childhood home, a man finds himself standing beside the pond of the old Sussex farmhouse where he used to play. He's transported to his 12th birthday when his remarkable friend Lettie claimed it wasn't a pond, but an ocean – a place where everything is possible… Plunged into a magical world, their survival depends on their ability to reckon with ancient forces that threaten to destroy everything around them.
