World Premiere of TWENTY THOUSAND STREETS UNDER THE SKY Comes to Southwark Playhouse Borough

Troupe has announced the world premiere of Simon Reade's new stage adaptation of Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky by Patrick Hamilton. Based on Hamilton's classic novel following the lives of three lonely Londoners, their desire for connection and mutual obsession, the play, set in late 1920s London, will be directed by Matthew Iliffe.

Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky opens at Southwark Playhouse Borough on 16 September, with previews from 10 September, and runs until 17 October 2026.

Full cast to be announced shortly.

Simon Reade said today, “Hamilton declares 'I'll show you life with a capital L' in this semi-autobiographical story of 'the small fish in the weird teeming aquarium of the metropolis.' It's a dark celebration of a seedy, smoggy, smutty London where heart-breaking, heart-broken people just strive to survive and attempt to have fun in those twenty thousand streets from the Euston Road to Soho, the West End to Hammersmith. What an amazing thing to stage this story now, for the very first time.”

Ashley Cook for Troupe said, “Working with Simon Reade for our 2022 production of A Single Man was an utter joy; I'm delighted to be renewing our collaboration to bring his visceral and deeply moving adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's raw, evocative novel to the audiences at Southwark Playhouse Borough this autumn.”

London, 1929. In the seedy Midnight Bell pub, barman Bob dreams of becoming a writer, while barmaid Ella dreams of being with Bob. When Bob becomes obsessed with alluring prostitute Jenny Maple, he fritters his life's savings on trying to rescue her. But there is more to the intriguing Jenny than meets the eye…

Adapted from the classic novel by Patrick Hamilton, famed author of Gaslight, Rope and Hangover Square, Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky is an epic tale of three lonely Londoners looking for connection in the sprawling streets of the metropolis. Both darkly humorous and devastating, it is a love letter to 1920s Jazz Age London in all its grimy glory. An acclaimed television adaptation was broadcast on BBC Four in 2005, starring Sally Hawkins.

This world premiere of Simon Reade's sharp new stage play adaptation is directed by Off West End Award winner Matthew Iliffe (Bacon) and features an ensemble cast in a stylish period production, from the producer of Noël Coward's The Rat Trap and John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga Parts 1 and 2 (Royal Shakespeare Company/ Park Theatre).'

Patrick Hamilton (1904 – 1962) had a brief career as an actor, before he became a novelist in his early twenties with the publication of Monday Morning (1925), Craven House (1926) and Twopence Coloured (1928); within a few years he had established a wide readership for himself. Hamilton's plays include the thrillers Rope (1929) - on which Alfred Hitchcock's film Rope was based - and Gaslight (1939), also successfully adapted for screen in the same year. There was also a historical drama, The Duke in Darkness (1943). Among his other novels are The Midnight Bell (1929), The Siege of Pleasure (1932), The Plains of Cement (1934), which form the trilogy entitled Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky (1935), adapted into a successful BBC Four series in 2005, Hangover Square (1941) and The Slaves of Solitude (1947). The Gorse Trilogy is made up of The West Pier, Mr Stimpson and Mr Gorse, and Unknown Assailant, which were first published during the 1950s.

Simon Reade previously adapted Christopher Isherwood's A Single Man for Troupe at Park Theatre and Philip Pullman's The Scarecrow and His Servant for Southwark Playhouse. His multi-award-winning version of Michael Morpurgo's Private Peaceful is revived on UK tour this autumn, along with the Watermill Theatre, Newbury's 5-star hit production of his version of Morpurgo's Pinocchio for Christmas 2026. Simon's other adaptations include Pride and Prejudice (Sheffield Crucible Theatre, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, Guthrie Theater Minneapolis, Theatre Royal Bath, UK tour), David Copperfield (Barn Theatre Cirencester, Riverside Studios), E. M. Forster's A Room With A View and Penelope Lively's Moon Tiger (Theatre Royal Bath, UK tours), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland which won a TMA Award (Bristol Old Vic, Polka Theatre), Ted Hughes's Tales from Ovid (RSC, The Young Vic) and Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children (RSC, Apollo Theater Harlem, Theater Trier). Reade co-wrote Rebus: A Game Called Malice (UK tour) and Epitaph for the Official Secrets Act (RSC). He also wrote the screenplay of R. C. Sherriff's Journey's End.

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