The Glow

By Alistair McDowall

The Glow Top / Details / Extras / The Company
Mon 24 Jan - Sat 05 Mar 2022

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“People find me. When it’s dark.”

An asylum. 

A woman locked in a windowless cell, with no memory as to who she is, or how she arrived there. 

When spiritualist medium Mrs Lyall requires a new assistant, this nameless woman seems the perfect candidate. 

But as the woman’s past begins to reveal itself, so do new powers neither are prepared for. 

“Matter may decay, but the spirit persists. The energy we exude remains.” 

Alistair McDowall’s previous work at the Royal Court includes all of itX and Talk Show (Open Court). Royal Court Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone directs. 

 

Q&A with writer Alistair McDowall and director Vicky Featherstone | 8 Feb 2022

 

The Glow has been generously supported by a lead gift from Charles Holloway. Further support has been received from members of The Glow Production Circle. The Glow was also the 2018 Pinter Commission, an award given annually by Lady Antonia Fraser to support a new commission at the Royal Court Theatre. 

Post-show Talk Tue 8 Feb

A Q&A with writer Alistair McDowall. This event is free with a ticket to that evening’s performance.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

"Bizarre, beautiful and breathtaking... Without a doubt, this is the best piece of new writing on the London stage today."

The Arts Desk | Aleks Sierz Read full review

★ ★ ★ ★

"Alistair McDowall has undoubtedly come up with the goods again in this strange and beautiful play, a mix of sci-fi, folk myth and elegy for humanity."

Time Out | Andrzej Lukowski Read full review

★ ★ ★ ★

"with a slowly unravelled mystery at its centre, Alistair McDowall’s uncanny new play delights in alien time fractures, the chaos of humanity and the unifying feeling of intense loneliness."

The Guardian | Kate Wyver Read full review

★ ★ ★ ★

"Utterly exhilarating and absorbing...asks the most challenging questions in remarkably original ways."

WhatsOnStage | Sarah Crompton Read full review

★ ★ ★ ★

"It’s slippery and dizzying, yet all oddly familiar, too: a rush of dreams, memories and myths that in blitzing us with stories, invites us to construct our own from its glittering fragments. This is thrillingly audacious theatre: dazzling."

The i | Sam Marlowe Read full review

★ ★ ★ ★

"Alistair McDowall’s genre-busting, time-travelling The Glow deals in shades – in every sense – of those and more, not least Caryl Churchill’s Escaped Alone, yet its voice is entirely and fascinatingly singular."

The Stage | David Benedict Read full review

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Jerwood Theatre Downstairs

Mon – Sat: 7:30pm (except 27 Jan 7pm)

Thu & Sat matinees: 2:30pm (from 29 Jan)

Running time: 2 hours, including a 20-minute interval.

No latecomers.

Please note that this production contains strobe, flashing images, haze and sudden loud noises.

We ask all audience members, unless medically exempt, to wear face coverings throughout the venue and in the auditorium, out of respect for others, and in support of the cast. Read full details about your visit to the Royal Court here.

Access Performances

Captioned: Wed 9, 16, 23 Feb at 7:30pm

Relaxed Environment: Sat 26 Feb at 2:30pm

Audio Described: Sat 5 March at 2:30pm (Touch Tour at 1pm)

General ticket information

Trigger warnings for productions

Story synopsis for The Glow

Sensory synopsis for The Glow

Image credit: Johan Persson

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