“There’s a legend about the Watch House. Scrape beneath the whitewash and you’ll find terror. You’ll find him.“
Olivier Award-winners Papatango are bringing Chris Foxon’s funny and thrilling adaptation of Robert Westall’s classic ghost story The Watch House to the Bramall Rock Void at Leeds Playhouse from 8-9 November as part of a UK Tour.
Once a coastguard station renowned for daring rescues, the old Watch House is now all but abandoned, just like Anne, dumped there while her parents sort their divorce. She’s never felt more alone. But she isn’t. Sunk deep in the past is a secret that threatens everything. Only Anne can stop it. Catapulted on an adventure through graveyards, discos and shipwrecks, she and her eccentric crew must uncover the truth before it’s too late.
Playwright Chris Foxon, who co-runs the multi award-winning Papatango Theatre Company: “Robert Westall was the first writer to win two Carnegie Medals, yet he often seems to be overlooked. Too Geordie? Too working-class? I firmly believe he should be regarded as a national treasure – so a national tour feels only fitting. I can’t wait to visit the people and places touched on in his story of a seaside haunting.”
Published by Methuen, The Watch House premiered at Laurels Theatre in Westall’s native North Tyneside in December 2023, enjoying a sold-out run. The production was made with support from Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade – an iconic heritage centre and setting of the story, which has a significant place in the UK’s maritime history as the forerunner of today’s Coastguard.
The 2024 tour of The Watch House is directed by George Turvey, who co-founded Papatango in 2007 and became its sole Artistic Director in January 2013.
The creative team also includes: Set and Costume Designer The Set Guise; Lighting Designer Simon Cole; and Composer Beccy Owen.
Donald McBride (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Royal Shakespeare Company; A Christmas Carol, Northern Stage; The Pitmen Painters, Live Theatre, National Tour) plays Arthur/Geordie.
Aoife Kennan (Scratches, Arcola Theatre; The 4th Country, Park Theatre; For Services Rendered, Jermyn Street Theatre) plays Anne.
Catherine Dryden (The Pitmen Painters, National Tour; Mary Stuart, Almeida Theatre; The Play That Goes Wrong, National Tour & West End) plays Fiona/Prudie/Da Souza/Timmo.
Bramall Rock Void, Leeds Playhouse
8-9 November
Age 10+
2 hours
Box office 0113 213 7700
Book online at leedsplayhouse.org.uk
