National Theatre adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel The Ocean At The End Of The Lane comes to the Theatre Royal, Nottingham

A new stage production based on the best-selling novel by Neil Gaiman will visit the Theatre Royal Nottingham as part of a major UK and Ireland tour.

The National Theatre’s critically-acclaimed The Ocean At The End Of The Lane is at the theatre for a two-week run from Tuesday (June 6) to Saturday, June 17.

This first major stage adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s work 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.

Now ten years on from when it was first published, winning Book of the Year at the 2013 National Book Awards, the book has sold over 1.3m copies worldwide.

It has been adapted for stage by Joel Horwood and directed by Katy Rudd.

She 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. 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 as this production goes on tour we are still adapting and evolving it and finding new meaning in its depths. That is the magic of live theatre and we can’t wait to share it with our audiences.”

Eastenders star Charlie Brooks leads the 17-strong ensemble cast as Ursula, with Keir Ogilvy as Boy, Trevor Fox as Dad and Millie Hikasa as Lettie Hempstock.