Hadley Fraser to star in world premiere of new play MAGIC at Chichester Festival Theatre
Photo credit: Seamus Ryan/Bob King Creative
David Haig’s new play MAGIC has its world premiere at Chichester Festival Theatre from 24 April–16 May, starring Hadley Fraser (The Lehman Trilogy, West End) as Harry Houdini and Haig himself as Arthur Conan Doyle.
Directed by Lucy Bailey and based on extraordinary historical events – 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of Houdini’s death – MAGIC asks what we’re prepared to believe, and why.
Harry Houdini is the greatest illusionist the world has ever known. Arthur Conan Doyle is the creator of literature’s most brilliant detective, Sherlock Holmes.
Their mutual admiration blossoms into a profound friendship, even as they discover a shared obsession with spiritualism. Conan Doyle believes fervently in the psychic world and the promise of reunion with his dead son; Houdini is determined to demonstrate it’s a cruel fraud. Which of these sparring partners will be proved right: the genius writer of fiction or the infallible magician?
The company also includes Jenna Augen (Kyoto, Nachtland, Leopoldstadt) as Bess Houdini, Ben Jones, Claire Price (The Capture, In Praise of Love, King Lear) as Jean Conan Doyle, Marc Serratosa, Ella Tekere, François Testory, Jade Williams, and Kristin Wei Wong.
Also on the creative team are designer Joanna Parker, lighting designer Aideen Malone, illusion designer John Bulleid, composer Orlando Gough, sound designer Beth Duke, video designer Dick Straker, movement director Ayse Tashkiran, fight director Kate Waters, and casting director Ginny Schiller CDG.