Last Updated on 20 August 2021 by Showcall Editorial Team
The Battersea Poltergeist will tour to Salford, Guildford, Basingstoke, Ipswich, York, Poole, Cheltenham, Brighton and Battersea in London in October and November
A real-life investigation into a house haunting, The Battersea Poltergeist, is to become a touring stage show after its success as a podcast.
Writer Danny Robins will present the show about the story of the 1956 haunting of the Hitchings family at the hands of a poltergeist they nicknamed Donald.
It will tour in October and November 2021, visiting The Lowry in Salford, G Live in Guildford, The Anvil in Basingstoke, Regent Theatre in Ipswich, York Grand Opera House, Lighthouse Poole, Cheltenham Town Hall, Brighton Theatre Royal and Clapham Grand in Battersea in south London – only a mile from where the haunting took place.
Made with Bafflegab Productions, the eight-part Battersea Poltergeist podcast was a multi-million download, mixing documentary and drama, which was broadcast by BBC Radio Four and available on platforms such as BBC Sounds and Spotify.
Danny Robins, a writer and journalist, is currently making his West End writing debut with 2:22: A Ghost Story at the Noël Coward Theatre, starring Lily Allen, Julia Chan, Hadley Fraser and Jake Wood.
He will bring in other guest experts from the podcast and together they will delve deeper into the case of the Battersea poltergeist, bringing the investigation to life on stage, sharing exclusive footage of Shirley Hitchings and other witnesses, and revealing some stunning, and chilling, new evidence. There will also be opportunities to ask questions.
Dubbed Britain’s strangest ever haunting, the case spanned a 12-year period. At its height, it became a major national news story, with newspaper headlines about strange noises, flying objects, exorcisms and ghostly communication. An attempt was even made to contact the poltergeist on live prime-time TV on the BBC and it was discussed by the Home Secretary in the House of Commons.
The tour is produced by James Seabright.
Tour dates
Monday 25 October
The Lowry, Salford
Wednesday 27 October
G Live, Guildford
Saturday 30 October
The Anvil, Basingstoke
Sunday 31 October
Clapham Grand, Battersea, London
Monday 1 November
Regent Theatre, Ipswich
Tuesday 2 November
York Grand Opera House
Wednesday 3 November
Lighthouse Poole
Friday 5 November
Cheltenham Town Hall
Sunday 7 November
Brighton Theatre Royal
