Jack Thorne News

Top stories: Bob Fosse's Dancin' begins previews, Casey Likes joins Back to the Future as Marty McFly, and more!

​​​​​​​Based on an original story by the Duffer Brothers, Jack Thorne and Kate Trefry, STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW, a new play written by Kate Trefry, will receive its world premiere in late 2023 at the Phoenix Theatre in London's West End, directed by Stephen Daldry with co-direction by Justin Martin. 

With a week to go before rehearsals begin, the full cast for Jack Thorne’s new play, The Motive and the Cue, directed by Sam Mendes, is revealed. 

Wizzo! Celebrate your Hogwarts House Pride on March 8 at Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre. 

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will come to the end of its record-breaking run at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne on 9 July 2023, after four years, 1 million tickets sold and more than 1,300 performances making it the longest running play in Australian history.

The Tony Award-winning Broadway production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will once again celebrate the Hogwarts houses with four special performances dedicated to each house. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw houses are the four living and learning communities for Hogwarts students, named after the wizarding school's four founders. 

After five years in the role, Michael Longhurst has announced that he will step down as Artistic Director of The Donmar Warehouse when his contract ends in February 2024.

Artistic Director Michael Longhurst and Executive Director Henny Finch have announced the next two shows in the Donmar's 30th birthday season, along with lead casting for the previously announced Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical Next To Normal.

Old Vic Artistic Director Matthew Warchus’ big-hearted, smash hit production of Charles Dickens’ immortal classic returns to The Old Vic, joyously adapted for the stage by Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, His Dark Materials).   

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, has announced the recipients of the first and second rounds of the 2022-23 Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards. The awards, totaling $725,000, allow 17 productions extra time for the development and rehearsal of new plays with the entire creative team, hoping to extend the life of the world premiere play after its first run. 

Writers behind some of the most critically acclaimed works over the last year were honoured at the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards 2023 ceremony, including Aamina Ahmad, David Edgar, Vivienne Franzmann, Rebecca Hall, Katie Hims, Adam Kay, Neil McKay, and Ben Power.

BAFTA-winning screenwriter and playwright Jack Thorne has revealed he was diagnosed with autism after a listener got in touch about his interview on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.

The spellbinding Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has reached the 1,000 performance milestone in Melbourne.

2022 started with the UK fighting with Covid's Omicron variant, which was not really conducive to much theatrical mingling. However, much of the theatre world ralied, as it always does, to bring us some juicy shows and sparkling performances.

Five time Tony Award winner and West End hit A CHRISTMAS CAROL starring David Wenham is raising money for food relief charity Foodbank during its Australian premiere season at the Comedy Theatre in Melbourne, which runs until 29 December.

The Canadian Premiere production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has released additional tickets from $69 for sale just in time for the gift-giving season.  Ten more weeks of performances will be added, March 21 – June 4, 2023.  The new block of tickets goes on sale on Saturday December 10, 2022 at 9:45 AM ET in celebration of Platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross train station in London.  

There are surely few less festive places to be than The Old Vic Theatre while Jack Thorne's A Christmas Carol is being staged. From mince pies and satsumas for the audience, Victorian bell ringing, snow falling and turkeys flying from the rafters, is it joyfully reassuring and supremely comforting.

The National Theatre has announced three new productions for 2023 and the revival of the critically acclaimed The Father and the Assassin. A new production devised by The PappyShow will tour directly to 55 schools across England, and National Theatre Live brings The Crucible, Othello and GOOD to cinema goers around the world.

The National Theatre has found its cast for The Motive and the Cue, opening in 2023. The cast will be led by Johnny Flynn, Tuppence Middleton, and Mark Gatiss, who will play Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and John Gielgud, respectively.

From Giles Terera as Othello at the National Theatre, to Daniel Craig as James Bond at the Royal Albert Hall, November has some real theatrical treats in store. There's also the first of the festive offerings, with a new opera at the London Coliseum based on a classic Christmas film and a much-loved revival of a Dickens' classic at The Old Vic.