UK & IRELAND TOUR
NOW PLAYING
From the imagination of Neil Gaiman, best-selling author of Coraline, Good Omens and The Sandman (now a major Netflix series), comes the National Theatre’s major new stage adaptation of The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
This five-star spectacular from the producers of War Horse and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a thrilling adventure of fantasy, myth and friendship, taking audiences on an epic journey to a childhood once forgotten and the darkness that lurks at the very edge of it.
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.
Age guidance: 12+ yrs. This production contains the following physical effects; high intensity lighting and strobe, haze and smoke, pyrotechnics, loud sound, and blackouts. The production contains moments that some people may find frightening, including references to death. We always recommend individual discretion alongside the age guidance. For more information, click here.
Neil Gaiman is a storyteller. He is the No.1 Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling writer of more than 45 books, graphic novels, and short stories, as well as the creator of films and television for all ages. Many of Neil Gaiman’s books, including Stardust and Coraline, have been made into films or theatre productions; Neverwhere has been adapted for TV and radio; American Gods is an Emmy-nominated television series and the National Theatre production of The Ocean at the End of the Lane (UK National Book Awards 2013 Book of the Year) transferred to the West End in 2021 for a successful run, before announcing a UK and Ireland tour which will begin in December 2022. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is the first major play adaptation of Neil’s work. His work in TV includes as the showrunner for the adaptation of Good Omens (co-authored with the late Sir Terry Pratchett); as a writer on two episodes of Doctor Who; and appearances in The Simpsons as himself as well in Arthur, The Big Bang Theory and Lucifer. The TV series The Sandman is an adaptation of his bestselling sequence of graphic novels. According to the BBC, The Sandman is one of the ‘100 Novels That Shaped Our World’ and all three seasons of the Audible adaptation have been New York Times and Amazon Bestsellers. Neil Gaiman has been awarded a Writers for Writers Award, a Hugo Award, Locus and Bram Stoker awards, and is the first author to have won both the Carnegie and Newbery Medals for the same work. In 2017, he became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. He received a Doctor of Letters from the University of St Andrews, is a Professor in the Arts at Bard College and is a Royal Society of Literature fellow. neilgaiman.com
Joel is a playwright and dramaturg whose work for theatre includes The Ocean At The End of the Lane for the National Theatre; The Great Elephant Chase at Burgtheater, Vienna; Berberian Sound Studio at the Donmar Warehouse; The Little Match Girl for Shakespeare’s Globe and Bristol Old Vic; I Want my Hat Back for the National Theatre which received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Family and Entertainment Show; This Changes Everything for Tonic Theatre which was nominated for a WGGB ‘Best New Play’ Award; A Series of Increasingly Impossible Acts for Secret Theatre at the Lyric, Hammersmith and on UK tour; I Caught Crabs in Walberswick at the Pleasance, Edinburgh, on UK Tour and at the Bush; Food which won a Fringe First Award at the Traverse, Edinburgh and Mikey the Pikey at the Pleasance, Edinburgh. Work for screen includes Skins and The Reward which won the RED Connector Grand Prize in 2008. Joel has also adapted the Radiohead album OK Computer for BBC Radio 4.
Katy Rudd’s work in theatre includes Camp Siegfried at the Old Vic; The Almighty Sometimes at the Royal Exchange; A Curious Night at the Theatre at the Apollo; and The Butterfly at Salisbury Playhouse. As associate director theatre includes Groundhog Day (also on Broadway; Olivier Award for Best New Musical), Lungs and The Master Builder at the Old Vic; Pinocchio, Husbands and Sons and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (also on UK tour) at the National; Linda and The Twits at the Royal Court; and Mojo in the West End. As assistant director work includes Into the Woods at Regent’s Park; The Playboy of the Western World at the Old Vic; and The Constant Wife at Salisbury Playhouse.
Fly Davis trained at RADA and Motley School of Design. Her work in theatre includes Beginning (also West End, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and on UK tour), The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Pericles at the National Theatre; Caroline, or Change at Studio 54 and in the West End; Groan Ups on UK tour; Appropriate at the Donmar Warehouse; Vassa and Shipwreck at the Almeida; Tao of Glass at Manchester International Festival; and The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other at Edinburgh Royal Lyceum.
Samuel Wyer is a theatre designer, puppet maker and illustrator. As designer his work includes, Lazuli Sky at Sadler’s Wells with Birmingham Royal Ballet; Wolf, Witch, Giant, Fairy at the Royal Opera House with Little Bulb; Alice’s Adventures Underground, The Terrible Infants, The Trench and Dinner at the Twits for Les Enfants Terribles; Marvin’s Binoculars and WILD! at the Unicorn; and The Elephantom at the National Theatre and for Gyre & Gimble. As costume and puppet designer, his theatre includes She Described it to Death at the Royal Opera House; and The Wizard of Oz at the Birmingham Rep. As puppet designer his theatre includes The Boy in the Dress for the RSC; How to Hide a Lion at Polka; Raymond Briggs’ The Bear for Pins and Needles.
Steven Hoggett’s recent work as movement director/ choreographer include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway, in the West End and internationally; Angels in America on Broadway; The Crucible on Broadway; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (also West End and on Broadway), The Ocean at The End of the Lane and The Light Princess for the National Theatre; The Last Ship, Rocky, American Idiot and Peter and the Starcatcher on Broadway; Brooklynite for Vineyard Theatre; Let the Right One In for National Theatre of Scotland and at St Anne’s Warehouse; The Glass Menagerie at A.R.T., on Broadway and at Edinburgh International Festival; Once at A.R.T., on Broadway and in the West End; Saint Joan at the Public Theater; and as associate director / movement, Black Watch forNational Theatre of Scotland and at St Anne’s Warehouse. As director, recent work includes Social! Distance Dance Club at Park Avenue Armory; and Close to You: Bacharach Reimagined at New York Theatre Workshop and in the West End. Hoggett was a director and founding member of Frantic Assembly Theatre Company, and with Scott Graham co-wrote The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre (Routledge).
Jherek Bischoff is a composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumental performer. His work in theatre includes Andersen’s Stories, The Sandman, The Flying Classroom, Johnny Breitwieser and The Journey. His symphonies include Jump!Star and his ballets include Wash of Gray for Pacific Northwest Ballet. His work has been performed by orchestras and ensembles including The National Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Stargaze and yMusic, and he has collaborated with David Byrne, Robert Wilson and Anna Calvi amongst others. His compositions include work for Kronos Quartet, Lincoln Center, St Ann’s Warehouse and the Royal Conservatory. Jherek Bischoff’s releases include Cistern, Composed, Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire Walk with Me and Strung Out in Heaven: A Bowie String Quartet Tribute (co-release with Amanda Palmer). His work for TV and film includes The Devil Makes Three, The Beauty of Decay, New Amsterdam, Glow, The Grave of St Oran, Dog Days, A Futile and Stupid Gesture, Thank You For Coming, Blunt Talk and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.
Paule Constable trained at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her recent work in theatre includes The Normal Heart, The Visit, or the old lady comes to call, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, ‘Master Harold’… and the boys, Nine Night (also West End), Pericles and Follies at the National Theatre; …and breathe at the Almeida; Tenebrae: Lessons Learnt in Darkness (co-creator and lighting designer) at Brighton Festival; The Nico Project at Manchester International Festival; The Cherry Orchard at ITA, Amsterdam; Local Hero at Edinburgh Royal Lyceum; The Meeting at Chichester; ear for eye at the Royal Court; Les Misérables in Concert (at the Sondheim and Gielgud), Les Misérables and The Moderate Soprano in the West End.
Ian is an award-winning sound designer and with extensive credits in the UK and internationally. Hi work has included The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, Translations, Small Island, Angels in America (also Broadway), Husbands and Sons for the National Theatre; Camp Siegfried at the Old Vic; 2:22 at the Noёl Coward; Company and Hangmen on Broadway and in the West End; Uncle Vanya at the Pinter Theatre and Audible Play; The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe at the Bridge Theatre and Leeds Playhouse; Europe, Elegy, Roots and The Weir at the Donmar Warehouse; True West at the Vaudeville; Heisenberg at Wyndham’s; Fatherland at the Lyric, Hammersmith and The Royal Exchange, Manchester; Junkyard at Bristol Old Vic and on tour; Fracked! at Chichester Festival Theatre and on tour; Before I Leave at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff; Before the Party, Uncle Vanya, Children’s Children and Mrs Klein at the Almeida; Jerusalem at the Apollo; This House at the Garrick and on tour; Absent Friends at the Pinter; Love’s Sacrifice for the Royal Shakespear Company; The Nether at Duke of York’s; The River on Broadway; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, All My Sons and To Kill a Mockingbird at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre; and The Machine at Manchester International Festival and in New York.
Ian has received Tony nominations for his work on Broadway, most notably for Rock & Roll, Jerusalem and Angels In America. He was the recipient of both an Olivier and Drama Desk Award for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which has played at the National Theatre and toured venues worldwide. Ian has been a member of the Autograph team since 2009. autograph.co.uk
Jamie Harrison is co-artistic director of Vox Motus and has co-created, co-directed, and designed all of the company’s work, most recently Bedknobs and Broomsticks on UK tour with Disney / Michael Harrison Entertainment, Flight (Critics’ Awards for Theatre Scotland, Best Design; Herald Angel; New York Times Theatre moments of 2018) at Edinburgh International Festival and Dragon (UK Theatre Awards, Best Production for Children and Young People), a collaboration between Vox Motus, National Theatre of Scotland and Tianjin People’s Theatre, China. Other recent work includes set and illusion design for Mozart’s The Magic Flute for Ex Machina and Quebec Opera Festival; magic and illusion design for The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Pinocchio at the National Theatre. He created the magic and illusions for the multiple Olivier and Tony award-winning production Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London’s West End, on Broadway, in San Francisco, Melbourne and Hamburg. Harrison also designed the puppets and illusions for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Jamie Harrison has won several international awards for his work including a special citation from the New York Drama Critics’ Circle and the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics’ Circle ‘Excellence in a Theatre Specialism’ Award. In 2017 he was the recipient of the Edinburgh International Magic Festival’s Great Lafayette Award for outstanding contribution to stage magic. Jamie Harrison trained as an actor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Finn Caldwell is a director, designer and performer and co-artistic director of Gyre & Gimble, a theatre company specialising in puppetry. His work in theatre includes Angels in America, The Light Princess and War Horse at the National. As puppetry director and co-designer work includes Life of Pi at Sheffield Crucible and in the West End; The Wicker Husband at the Watermill; The Grinning Man at Bristol Old Vic and in the West End; Dr Seuss’ The Lorax at the Old Vic and Toronto; and Running Wild at Chichester, on UK tour and Regent’s Park. Other theatre work includes The Bear for Pins and Needles; The Tempest at Birmingham Royal Ballet; Alice’s Adventures Underground and Adventures in Wonderland for Les Enfants Terrible; Ariodante at Festival Aix; and Shrek the Musical in the West End and on tour. As movement director, theatre includes Groundhog Day at the Old Vic and on international tour. As co-director and puppetry designer theatre includes Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons: A Reimagining at Shakespeare’s Globe; The Hartlepool Monkey for Fuel; and The Elephantom at the National and in the West End, for Gyre & Gimble. As director his work includes Ex Machina at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art; First Hippo on the Moon for Les Petits; and Lardo at the Old Red Lion.
Naomi Downham is currently Senior Casting Assistant at the National Theatre. She works across all three theatres on the South Bank as part of the National Theatre’s Casting department. Most recent work as a casting director includes The Crucible at the National Theatre; Athena at The Yard; and Hamlet and Jekyll & Hyde on school tours for the National Theatre. Work as casting associate includes The Corn Is Green, The Normal Heart, Death of England: Face to Face (film) and The Ocean at the End of the Lane (also West End) for the National Theatre.
Charlie Brooks trained at Arts Educational Schools. Her work in theatre includes All in a Row at Southwark Playhouse; Monogamy and Contact.com at Park Theatre; How the Other Half Loves and Beautiful Thing on UK tour; A Streetcar Named Desire at Leicester Curve; Our Country’s Good at Liverpool Playhouse; Dangerous Corner at Windsor Theatre Royal; The Play I Wrote for Bill Kenwright; and Office Games at the Pleasance. TV includes Lie With Me, Moving On, Suspects, The Dumping Ground, EastEnders, Wired, Robin Hood, Love Soup, Heartbeat, Casualty, Angel of Death, Bleakhouse, Golden Hour, Ward4 and Playground. Film include Fog and Take Three Girls. Charlie Brooks was the winner of ITV’s primetime Celebrity survival show I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!. She has extensive radio credits and personal TV appearances. Alongside stage and screen Charlie is the founder of iampro, an online drama school and creative hub.
Daniel Cornish trained at Guildford School of Acting. Work in theatre includes A Certain Term at White Bea; The Good Scout for Above the Stag; The Little Prince at Vienna’s English Theatre; and Maggie and Ted at the Garrick Theatre. TV includes Doctors.
Trevor Fox’s work in theatre includes The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (West End), My Brilliant Friend, Macbeth and The Pitman Painters (also West End and New York) for the National Theatre; Peggy for You at Hampstead; The Jungle at the Young Vic, in the West End and in the US; People, Places and Things on tour; Amedee at Birmingham; The Tempest, Cymbeline, The Oresteia, Measure for Measure, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Gabriel, Coriolanus and Under the Black Flag at Shakespeare’s Globe; King Lear and Children’s Children at the Almeida; The Cherry Orchard at Oxford Stage; Toast in Newcastle; and Billy Elliot in the West End. TV includes Rain Dogs, The Thief, his Wife and the Canoe, The Moonstone, Beowulf, Joe Maddison’s War and Our Friends in the North. Film includes The Old Oak, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Bridget Jones – The Edge of Reason, Gabriel and Me and Billy Elliot.
Emma-Jane Goodwin trained at East 15 Acting School. Her work in theatre includes The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time for the National Theatre in the West End and on UK, Ireland and international tour; Sandra After Birthday and Her Big Chance for Round Pebble; Someone’s Out There for Sglodion Fawr Theatre; and Love Steals Us from Loneliness for Chippy Lane. TV includes Stella. Radio includes Bert & Dave’s Big Break.
Paolo Guidi is an actor based in London. Most recently, he was part of the cast of a new movement film Touch for Frantic Assembly. He has spent the last six years working with Frantic Assembly as a practitioner, teacher, and movement director.
Millie Hikasa trained at Arts Educational, where productions included Another F***ing Play About Race, In the Red and Brown Water and Macbeth. Work in theatre includes Jack Absolute Flies Again at the National Theatre. Short films include Hitmen.
Lewis Howard trained at Birmingham School of Acting (now Birmingham Conservatoire). Work in theatre includes War Horse for the National Theatre, on UK and world tours; Al Adeyat for Artists in Motion; Swivelhead for Pipeline Theatre; Cider with Rosie and Jamaica Inn for Trebiggan Productions; Richard III and Hamlet for Hiraeth Artistic Productions; 24UK and Christmas. Time. For Near-ta Theatre on UK tour; and 4:48 Psychosis for Crooked Pieces. Short films include The Big Return of Ray Lamere.
Kemi-Bo Jacobs trained at LAMDA, and was awarded the RSC’s British Bursary Award in 2014. Work in theatre includes The Winter’s Tale (as Hermione) at the RSC; All My Sons for Talawa; Wild East at the Young Vic; and All White Everything but Me (also writer; Stage Debut Award nomination) for Alphabetti Theatre. TV includes The Letter for the King, The Great, McMafia, Thirteen, Delicious, The Honourable Woman Lewis and Doctor Who. Film includes London Has Fallen.
Jasmeen James’ work in theatre includes Jekyll and Hyde at the National Theatre and on UK tour; Macbeth and A Christmas Carol for the Globe Players; Fragments of a Complicated Mind at Theatre 503; A Wake in Progress for Fine Mess and Underbelly, Edinburgh; Lady Macbeth in Macbeth for the Young Shakespeare Company; Juliet in Romeo and Juliet for AFTLS; Crime and Punishment and Woman of Troy for God & Monsters; Antipholus of Syracuse and Comedy of Errors at the Orange Tree Theatre; The House Of Bernarda Alba for N1; and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Court Theatre Training Company.
Ronnie Lee trained at Laine Theatre Arts graduating in July 2018, where productions included Just So and The Laramie Project. Work in theatre includes Sleeping Beauty at The Capitol, Horsham; Dick Whittington at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford; The Laine Show, Star Track and Laine Aflame at Epsom Playhouse; and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in the West End.
Aimee McGoldrick is a recent graduate of Mountview Academy. Work in theatre includes A Walk is Not Just a Walk with Lyric, Belfast; writing and performing in the one-person production No Tits & Plenty of Troubles at Golden Goose;and devising with Tinderbox, Manifesto Poetico and the Lyric, Belfast. Film includes A Bump Along the Way.
Laurie Ogden is a graduate of National Youth Theatre Rep company 2018/19, where her productions included To Kill a Mockingbird at Lyric Hammersmith; Victoria’s Knickers and Consensual at Soho Theatre; and Macbeth at the Garrick. Her other work in theatre includes Different Owners at Sunrise at the Roundhouse; Bible John at the Pleasance, Edinburgh Fringe Festival; and Napoli, Brooklyn at Park Theatre and on tour. TV includes Great Expectations. Film includes The Colour Room, Aye of the Beholder and Monstrum.
Keir Ogilvy trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Work in theatre includes Restless Natives for the National Theatre of Scotland; and No Future at Camden People’s Theatre and Shoreditch Town Hall.
Domonic Ramsden graduated from Arts Educational Schools, London. Work in theatre includes War Horse at the National Theatre and on national and international tour; Aladdin at the Beck; Snow White at Salisbury Playhouse; and Musical of the Year for Lost Theatre. Other puppetry work includes Tums Commercial, Ragdoll and Out of the Deep Blue.
Joe Rawlinson-Hunt is an actor, singer and voiceover artist. He trained on the W1 Workshops Advanced Process and Performance Course, with productions including Radiant Vermin. His work in theatre includes The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on UK tour for the National Theatre. As a voiceover artist, he has worked with many clients all over the world and has recently recorded an undisclosed project with Marvel.
Risha Silvera trained with Fourth Monkey Actor Training Company. Work in theatre includes Black Women Dating White Men at Drayton Arms; Jack Frost for Moon on a Stick; and Starcrazy for Miracle Theatre. As a puppetry performer, work includes The Hatchling for the Queen’s Jubilee; and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Athletes Welcome Ceremony. TV includes This is Going to Hurt. Short films include Anthropocene: The Human Era.
Finty Williams’ recent work in theatre includes The Key Workers Cycle at the Almeida; and The Chalk Garden at Theatre Royal, Windsor and Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford. Other work in theatre includes Twelfth Night at the National Theatre; A Pack of Lies (as Barbara) at the Menier Chocolate Factory; The Divide at the Edinburgh Festival and at the Old Vic; Dinner with Friends at Park Theatre; The Vote and Luise Miller at the Donmar; The Armour for Defibrillator at the Langham; Dangerous Corner at Theatre Royal Windsor and on tour; The Lightning Child, Macbeth and Bedlam at Shakespeare’s Globe; Bedroom Farce at the Rose, Kingston and in the West End; and The Night of the Iguana at the Noël Coward. Recent TV includes The A List (series regular), The Vote, Doc Martin, Cranford (series 1 and 2) and Tales from the Crypt. Films include Six Minutes to Midnight, We Can Be Heroes, Delicious, The Good Night, Ladies in Lavender, The Importance of Being Earnest and Gosford Park.
Cast and performance dates are subject to change without notice.
The National Theatre is committed to making its productions accessible to all. This commitment includes providing assisted performances. The following performances of The Ocean at the End of the Lane are scheduled across the tour:
Audio Described Performances
Signed Performances
Relaxed Performances
Touch Tours
Captioned Performances
Sensory Adapted Performances
A special illustrated edition of The Ocean at the End of the Lane, the bestselling magical novel from master storyteller Neil Gaiman, is available now.
The official soundtrack release of the original score from composer Jherek Bischoff. Now available to stream and download on all major platforms.
CD edition available to buy from the National Theatre Bookshop and in person at The Duke of York’s Theatre. A special limited-edition vinyl will also be released in 2022.