The Ocean at the End of the Lane on tour
based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, adapted by Joel Horwood
Booking and details
Age guidance: 12+ yrs.
From the imagination of Neil Gaiman, best-selling author of Coraline, Good Omens and The Sandman, comes the National Theatre’s major new stage adaptation of The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
This thrilling adventure of fantasy, myth and friendship, is a five-star spectacular which 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.
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.
Performed 12 December 2022 — 7 October 2023 in the UK & Ireland Tour.
Reviews
‘Spellbinding. Theatre at its best.’
Daily Telegraph
‘There’s nothing around to beat this thrillingly imaginative show.’
Mail on Sunday
‘Theatrical magic. A mesmerising adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s hit novel.’
Sunday Times
‘Shows like this don’t come around very often.’
Time Out
‘This knockout production is theatre at its best.’
Independent
‘Astonishing. An extraordinary piece of theatre.’
Lancashire Telegraph
‘It will seriously blow your mind.’
Manchester Evening News
Suitability
This production contains the following 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. For more information, read our Content warning pdf or contact your local theatre.
Supporters
Theatre Nation Partnerships is generously supported by Arts Council England’s Strategic Touring Fund and Garfield Weston Foundation.
Gallery
Production images
Videos
Education resource
This learning resource is designed to support students and their teachers in responding to The Ocean at the End of Lane in various ways. The pack includes opportunities to engage with the production for the live production element of GCSE and/or A Level Drama & Theatre. This learning resource also provides information about the production, and ways in which it can inform and inspire devised or scripted work in schools and colleges.
Cast
Charlie Brooks
Charlie Brooks trained at Arts Educational Schools.
Daniel Cornish
Daniel Cornish trained at Guildford School of Acting.
Trevor Fox
Trevor Fox trained at Rose Bruford.
Emma-Jane Goodwin
Emma-Jane Goodwin tained at East 15 Acting School
Paolo Guidi
Paolo Guidi is an actor based in London.
Millie Hikasa
Millie Hikasa trained at Arts Educational schools where productions included Another F***ing Play About Race, In the Red and Brown Water and Macbeth.
Lewis Howard
Lewis Howard trained at Birmingham School of Acting (now Birmingham Conservatoire).
Kemi-Bo Jacobs
For the National Theatre: Coriolanus and The Ocean at the End of the Lane (also on tour and in the West End)
Jasmeen James
Jasmeen James performaned in Macbeth and A Christmas Carol for the Globe Players;
Ronnie Lee
Ronnie Lee trained at Laine Theatre Arts graduating in July 2018, where productions included Just So and The Laramie Project.
Aimee McGoldrick
Aimee McGoldrick is a recent graduate of Mountview Academy.
Laurie Ogden
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.
Keir Ogilvy
Keir Ogilvy trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.
Domonic Ramsden
Domonic Ramsden graduated from Arts Educational Schools, London.
Joe Rawlinson-Hunt
Joe Rawlinson-Hunt trained on the W1 Workshops Advanced Process and Performance course, where his productions included Radiant Vermin.
Risha Silvera
Risha Silvera trained with Fourth Monkey Actor Training Company.
Finty Williams
At the National Theatre in Twelfth Night
Production Team
Author
Adaptor
Director
Set Designer
Costume and Puppet Designer
Movement Director
Steven Hoggett
Steven Hoggett
For the National Theatre: Nye (also Wales Millennium Centre), The Ocean at the End of the Lane, The Light Princess and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (also West End and Broadway)
Composer
Jherek Bischoff
Jherek Bischoff
Jherek Bischoff is a composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumental performer.
Lighting Designer
Paule Constable
Paule Constable
Recent National Theatre includes: Nye (also Wales Millennium Centre), Till the Stars Come Down, The Confessions, Dixon and Daughters, The Normal Heart, The Visit, or The Old Lady Comes to Call and The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Sound Designer
Ian Dickinson for Autograph
Ian Dickinson for Autograph
Ian Dickinson is an award-winning sound designer and with extensive credits in the UK and internationally.
Magic and Illusions Director and Designer
Jamie Harrison
Jamie Harrison
Jamie Harrison (he/him) trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He is co-artistic director of Vox Motus.
Puppetry
Finn Caldwell
Finn Caldwell
Finn Caldwell is a director, designer, and performer; he is co-artistic director of Gyre & Gimble, a theatre company specialising in puppetry.
Casting Director
Naomi Downham
Naomi Downham
For the National Theatre, as casting director: Alterations, A Tupperware of Ashes, The Grapes of Wrath, Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage), The House of Bernarda Alba, The Crucible (also West End), The Ocean at the End of the Lane (UK tour), Hamlet (school tour) and Jekyll & Hyde (school tour)
Associate Director
Sophie Dillon Moniram
Sophie Dillon Moniram
Sophie Moniram is a graduate from Mountview Academy’s Theatre Directing MA and has participated in the National Theatre Studio’s Directing Course.
Associate Set Designer and Draftsperson
Tim Blazdell
Tim Blazdell
Tim Blazdell is a video designer, set designer and design associate
Associate Movement Director
Jess Williams
Jess Williams
For the National Theatre: Nye (also Wales Millennium Centre); as associate director or associate movement director, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Beginning (also for Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch); as movement director, The Boy with Two Hearts
Lighting Associate
Rob Casey
Rob Casey
Rob Casey is the co-founder of Ammonite, a company specialising in the technical development and support of a diverse range of live entertainment.
Lighting Associate and LX Programmer
Sound Associate
Christopher Reid
Christopher Reid
Christopher Reid is an award-winning Sound Designer based in London.
Magic and Illusions Associate
John Bulleid
John Bulleid
For the National Theatre: as illusions director and designer, A Tupperware of Ashes; and as illusion associate, The Ocean at the End of the Lane (also the Duke of York’s and on UK tour)
Associate Puppetry Director
Gareth Aled
Gareth Aled
Gareth Aled trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.
Voice and Dialect Coach
Kate Godfrey
Kate Godfrey
Having worked as an actor for ten years, Kate Godfrey trained as a voice coach at The Central School of Speech and Drama from 1995-6. She has worked at Mountview Theatre School, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the National Theatre and the RSC.
Resident Director
Eleri B. Jones
Eleri B. Jones
Eleri B. Jones is a theatre and film director, originally from North Wales.
Flying Effects
John Maddox for Suspended Illusions Ltd.
John Maddox for Suspended Illusions Ltd.
John Maddox founded Suspended Illusions Ltd after a decade of touring the world with theatre shows and circuses.
Illustration by Nicolas Delort
Photos of UK & Ireland Tour cast by Brinkhoff/Mögenburg