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Adolescence creator Jack Thorne's Let The Right One In play to go on UK tour

Adolescence creator Jack Thorne's Let The Right One In play to go on UK tour

Independent21-03-2025

Adolescence creator Jack Thorne is to see his play Let The Right One In embark on a UK tour.
The production, which is based on the best-selling Swedish novel and award-winning film by Jon Ajvide Lindqvist, will begin in Northampton in October this year and finish in Liverpool in April 2026, following a sold-out run at Manchester's Royal Exchange.
Directed by Bryony Shanahan, the play tells a story of vampires, love, loneliness and survival.
Speaking about the tour, Thorne said: 'It was such a privilege to adapt Let The Right One In, a story that is so deceptive in terms of the way it looks at genre, gender and at love.
'I am so excited that more people are going to have the opportunity to see Bryony Shanahan's sinewy dangerous production.'
It comes after Netflix series Adolescence, which Thorne co-wrote with actor Stephen Graham, prompted a number of conversations around so-called incel (involuntary celibate) culture, which has led to misogyny online and bullying using social media.
The crime drama is about a boy accused of killing a girl in his class and stars This Is England actor Graham, who plays Eddie Miller, the father of 13-year-old Jamie, played by newcomer Owen Cooper, who sees armed police burst into his home to arrest his son.
Eddie is then chosen as Jamie's appropriate adult, accompanying him at the police interview, and learning the extent of what his son is accused of doing.
The pair have since accepted an invitation to a parliamentary meeting by Labour MP Josh McAlister to discuss online safety with MPs.
It comes after Thorne advocated for the show to be shown in Parliament and schools, with Sir Keir Starmer indicating that it should during Wednesday's Prime Minister's Questions.
The Prime Minister said he watched the programme with his children, and added that 'this violence carried out by young men, influenced by what they see online, is a real problem, it's abhorrent, and we have to tackle it'.
During an interview with BBC Two's current affairs programme Newsnight, Thorne said he hopes 'we can use this moment to provoke this government to consider quite serious change' and called for a social media and smartphone ban for young people.
He referenced that the Australian senate has passed a social media ban for young children.
Thorne said: 'I would extend it further, it is about gaming too, and it's about getting inside all these different systems.'
He admitted there were 'good' things about social media and gaming, but stressed the Government should legislate to protect teenagers and see 'what change that could bring to our society'.
Australia is set to make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (£25 million) if they systematically do not prevent those younger than 16 from holding accounts.
The Let The Right One In tour will begin on October 16, with tickets available from the play's website.

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