A classic story of loneliness, obsession and addiction in pre-war Earls Court

02/07/2008

"Hangover Square" is a play about the darkest hours before the outbreak of WW2, and it's going to be performed at last performed in its natural home - at Earls Court’s Finborough Theatre, from July 9th 2008 for a four-week run.  

Written by local author Patrick Hamilton, Hangover Square is a classic story of loneliness, obsession and addiction in pre–war Earls Court, set against an atmospheric film noir backdrop. Alcoholic George Harvey Bone is hopelessly infatuated with a young actress, Netta, who is cool, hopelessly desirable - and utterly contemptuous of him.

As Bone faces “the end of hope and love” as he falls under Netta’s spell, he is cast adrift in an unsettling, seductive, darkly comic world of seedy saloon bars, lodging houses and boozing philosophers – except in his "dead" moments, when something goes click in his head and he realizes, without doubt, that he must kill her....

Patrick Hamilton (1904-1962) was the author of Rope (filmed by Alfred Hitchcock) and Gaslight (recently revived at The Old Vic). His work has undergone a huge revival in recent years and, in 2007, the audio version of Hangover Square was Book of the Week in The Sunday Times.

The novel is adapted by actress and writer Fidelis Morgan, who collaborated with Lynda la Plante on Channel 4's tense, psychological thriller Killer Net, and her adaptation of Hangover Square is shortly to be made into a film.

For more information contact The Finborough Theatre, The Finborough, 118 Finborough Road, London, SW10 9ED. Box Office is 0844 847 1652, or you can book online at the website below. Performance dates: Wednesday, 9th July - Saturday, 2nd August 2008. Saturday and Sunday Matinees at 3.00pm. Tickets £13 (£9 concessions).