National Theatre's staging of The Ocean at the End of the Lane to visit Bath's Theatre Royal

Direct from the West End, the National Theatre’s thrilling new production of Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane is set to appear at the Theatre Royal Bath from Tuesday 7 to Saturday 18 March 2023. 

Blending magic with memory in a tour-de-force of storytelling, the acclaimed drama takes audiences on an epic journey to a childhood once forgotten and the darkness that lurks at the very edge of it. Directed by Katy Rudd and adapted by Joel Horwood, the first major stage adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s best-selling novel is a thrilling adventure of fantasy, myth and friendship.

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. 

Ursula is played by Charlie Brooks. Well known on television for her role as Janine in more than 1,000 episodes of BBC’s EastEnders, her screen credits also include With Intent, Wired, Angel of Death and Bleak House. Amongst her previous appearances at theatres across the UK, Charlie last performed at the Theatre Royal Bath in How the Other Half Loves in 2017. The role of Old Mrs Hempstock is played by Finty Williams, recently seen as Dr Shaw in the BBC series The A List. Her screen and stage credits also include Gosford Park, Cranford, Angelina Ballerina, Doc Martin and performances at the Almeida, Donmar and in the West End. Finty has previously performed at the Theatre Royal in Volcano in 2012 and The Clandestine Marriage in 1994. Appearing as Dad, Trevor Fox’s screen credits over the past 30 years range from Our Friends in the North to Billy Elliot and Emmerdale. Previously at Bath’s Theatre Royal, he has performed in People, Places, Things in 2017, The Pitmen Painters in 2011 and The Cherry Orchard in 2003. 

The 17-strong ensemble cast also features Millie Hikasa as Lettie Hempstock; Keir Ogilvy and Daniel Cornish alternating the role of Boy; Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Ginnie Hempstock; Laurie Ogden as Sis; ensemble cast members Paolo Guidi, Ronnie Lee, Aimee McGoldrick and Domonic Ramsden, and understudies Emma-Jane Goodwin, Lewis Howard, Jasmeen James, Joe Rawlinson-Hunt and Risha Silvera.

Writer Neil Gaiman said: “The Ocean at the End of the Lane is about memory, magic, family. It’s about who you were and who you are. It’s not like anything else I’ve ever been involved in. It’s not like anything else you’ll ever see at the theatre. The Ocean at the End of the Lane has its own theatrical magic. It's why happy people tell you that they cried while watching it, it's why it becomes a dreamlike experience in memory, it gets bigger the further inside you follow it. Like a duck pond that contains an ocean that holds the universe.”  

The National Theatre’s production introduces audiences to Gaiman’s magical world and the much-loved characters that inhabit it, fully realised on stage. The 40-week UK and Ireland tour follows a celebrated six-month run of The Ocean at the End of the Lane in the West End which opened in November 2021, after the production received its world premiere at the National Theatre in late 2019.  

Director Katy Rudd said: “When Neil Gaiman gave the National Theatre his blessing to stage his novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane we knew that this book was treasured across the world by Neil Gaiman’s legions of fans. The writer, Joel Horwood and I wanted to be faithful to the novel and at the same time create a big, bold, visual show with more than just a little bit of magic. Thanks to our amazing creative team we found ways to fit an ocean into a bucket, and bring huge mythical creatures like the Hunger Birds to life on stage, but at its heart, Ocean is a human story about a family and a young boy growing up, experiencing real emotion and real pain, and finding a way to get through it with the help of his friends. We hope we have created something that is both profound and visually exciting that will appeal, not only to regular theatre audiences, but also to younger people from the ‘Netflix generation’ who might not have been to the theatre before. It is a beautiful, rich, multi-faceted story and we can’t wait to share it with our audiences.”

National Theatre Director Rufus Norris said: “That Joel Horwood, Katy Rudd and their formidable creative team have managed to wrestle Neil Gaiman’s incredible imagination and the worlds which spring from it onto a stage is magic in itself. We’re so proud to tour this work around the UK and Ireland, to share this beautiful story with audiences nationally.” 

Neil Gaiman is known for his graphic novels, including The Sandman series, with a major new Netflix TV adaptation released in 2022; 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 1.5 million copies worldwide.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane appears at the Theatre Royal Bath from Tuesday 7 to Saturday 18 March. Tickets are on sale at the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on +44 (0)1225 448844 and online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk.