A Monster Calls: The Play

The playscript for the Old Vic production of A Monster Calls, based on the bestselling novel by Patrick Ness.

In this powerful new adaptation from visionary director Sally Cookson, the bestselling novel by Patrick Ness is brought to the stage to tell the stunning story of love, loss and courage anew. Conor has the same dream every night, ever since his mother first fell ill, ever since she started that treatments that don’t quite seem to be working. But tonight is different. Tonight, when he wakes, there’s a visitor at his window. It’s ancient, elemental, a force of nature. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth.

The final idea of the late, award-winning writer Siobhan Dowd, developed into an extraordinary and heartbreaking novel by Patrick Ness, and now adapted for an Old Vic production that brings the tale to a new audience.

About the Author

Sally Cookson is the visionary director behind critically-acclaimed theatre productions including Jane Eyre, Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty.

Adam Peck has worked with the Bristol Old Vic Young Company as a writer for over ten years. He is the Writer in the Room for A Monster Calls.

Patrick Ness is the award-winning and bestselling author of the Chaos Walking trilogy, A Monster Calls, More Than This, The Rest of Us Just Live Here and Release. He has won every major prize in children’s fiction, including the Carnegie Medal twice. He has written the screenplay for the film of A Monster Calls and the BBC Doctor Who spin-off, Class. The first Chaos Walking film is slated for release in 2019. He lives in London.