In the Royal Court’s thriller Haunted Child, a small boy is driving his mother to distraction. Waking at night, hearing phantom noises and fixating on his absent father. When he glimpses a figure prowling the house at night, a shadow is cast which gradually strips away his childhood certainties.

Joe Penhall’s chilling and unsettling play asks demanding questions about the things we believe and their consequences.

Penhall’s last play at the Royal Court was Dumb Show in 2004. His debut play, Some Voices, opened at the Royal Court in 1994 winning him the John Whiting Award. His other credits include the Olivier Award-winning Blue/Orange. For film, he most recently adapted The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Haunted Child is directed by Jeremy Herrin, an Associate Director of the Royal Court. His previous credits at the Royal Court include The Heretic, Kin, Spur Of The Moment, Off The Endz, The Priory, Tusk Tusk, That Face and The Vertical Hour.