"I have often thought that with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf, because the middle two fingers on both my hands are the same length.
I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in my family is dead."
There once were seven Blackwoods. Now there are only three.
Agoraphobic Constance, bewildered Uncle Julian, and resourceful eighteen-year-old Merricat live in peaceful isolation, Merricat’s powerful “web of protection” keeping the house safe from the enemies beyond the garden gate.
For six years Merricat has kept the outside world at bay, but now Cousin Charles has come to stay, having heard rumours of a hidden Blackwood fortune…
Based on the classic psychological horror novel by Shirley Jackson (The Haunting of Hill House), this thrilling new adaptation by Alistair McDowall (Pomona; all of it) is directed by Sarah Frankcom (Fun Home; The Last Stand of Mrs. Mary Whitehouse).
Date
07 Oct - 06 Nov 2027
Tickets
From £10 - £55
Restoration Levy
A £2 per basket fee applies to all standard ticket purchases. Find out more.
Age guidance
14+
BSL Performance
Oct 21, 2027 at 7.30pm
Open Captioned Performance
Oct 26, 2027 at 7.30pm
Chilled Performance
Oct 30, 2027 at 2.30pm
For all our productions, we offer one complimentary carer/companion seat for every full price access ticket booked.
You can book by calling our box office on 020 8741 6850, via email access@lyric.co.uk or you can pop into the theatre in person.
School Performances
£15 per student + 1 free teacher ticket for every 10 students (subject to availability). Mon – Wed evening performances only. To book email schools@lyric.co.uk
Group Offer
£5 off tickets for groups of 8+: for Price Bands B + C only, subject to availability. To book email tickets@lyric.co.uk or call 020 8741 6850.
Under 16s
£30 for Price Band B and £20 for Price Band C for main run performances only. £10 tickets are available during preview performances.
Young Lyric tickets
All Young Lyric Members can access 2 x £5 tickets, subject to availability
-
Writer
Alistair McDowall
Writer
Alistair McDowall is a writer from the North East of England.
Plays include:
all of it, The Glow, X, Talk Show (Royal Court);
Zero for the Young Dudes! (National Theatre Connections);
Pomona (Orange Tree Theatre/National Theatre/Royal Exchange);
Captain Amazing, Brilliant Adventures (Live Theatre/Royal Exchange).Awards and Fellowships include:
Abraham Woursell Award (2016-2021); MacDowell Fellow (2018); Harold Pinter Commission (2018); Bruntwood Prize Judge’s Award (2011).Alistair’s work has been widely translated and produced internationally.
-
Based on the novel by
Shirley Jackson
Based on the novel by
Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) is generally regarded as one of the most important American fiction writers of the twentieth century. She was born in San Francisco and began writing seriously at an early age, first receiving wide and sudden acclaim when her iconic short story “The Lottery” was published in The New Yorker in 1948; that story is now considered a classic in American literature and is taught in all U.S. middle-schools. Jackson is the author of six novels, two best-selling humorous family chronicles and hundreds of short stories. Her final complete novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962) is widely considered her masterpiece.
Jackson’s work combines psychological insight and suspense, often exploring the possibility of evil in everyday life, lurking just beneath the surface on a bucolic day. Her writing is stunningly relevant today, and continues to captivate readers of all ages. In addition to her novels, there are six posthumous collections of her short stories. The Letters of Shirley Jackson, edited by her eldest son, Laurence Jackson Hyman, was published in 2021.
-
Director
Sarah Frankcom
Director
Sarah Frankcom is a director and dramaturg with extensive experience creating theatre across participatory, training, and professional contexts. She joined the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester as Literary Manager, where she developed the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, before serving as Artistic Director from 2014 to 2019. From 2019 to 2022, she was Director of LAMDA.
For the Royal Exchange: Fun Home, Our Town (UK Theatre Award for Best Director), Death of a Salesman, West Side Story, That Day We Sang, Winterlong (with Soho Theatre), Black Roses, Three Birds (with Bush Theatre), Mary Barton, A View from the Bridge, Separate Tables, Escaped Alone, Brief Encounter and Betty! A Sort of Musical, as well as world premieres of Simon Stephens’ Light Falls, Blindsided, Punk Rock (MEN Award for Best Production) and On the Shore of the Wide World (Olivier Award for Best Play).
Other theatre credits include: The Masque of Anarchy, The Skriker, The Nico Project, They and Robin/Red/Breast (Manchester International Festival / Factory International), The Last Testament of Lillian Bilocca (Hull UK City of Culture), Macbeth for Schools (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Breach (Hampstead Theatre), Work It Out (HOME, Manchester), The Last Stand of Mrs Mary Whitehouse (Nottingham Playhouse) and An Ark by Simon Stephens, which premiered at The Shed, New York.
You might also like...
Cinderella