The Void at Lichfield Garrick: one night, from £26

A touring sci-fi horror in which an all-seeing artificial intelligence takes control of a deep-space research ship stops at the Lichfield Garrick for a single performance on Wednesday 14 October, at 7.30pm in the main auditorium. The theatre’s own listing puts tickets from £26 and recommends the show for ages 13 and over.

The Void: A Horror Story is made by Thunder Road, a company from Yorkshire, in association with Watford Palace Theatre. Lichfield is one of 16 venues on an autumn tour that runs from 30 September to 7 November, and it is the only Staffordshire date: the nearest others are Bridge House Theatre in Warwick on 1 October and Birmingham Rep on 27 and 28 October.

The premise, in the company’s words: eight million miles from Earth, a distress call draws Flint, a haunted space ranger, towards the Odyssey, an ageing research vessel. He boards it and finds a failing ship, a missing crew and a deadly force running out of control.

What is actually on stage

The company’s pitch is that you are watching something between a film and a play. Pre-recorded footage, projections, stage illusions and live performance run together, and part of the cast never appears in the room: three of the seven performers are on screen or are voices only.

Thunder Road says it began in 2011 by reimagining cult novels, working in association with Harrogate Theatre, and now tours nationally with what it describes as original, cinematic horror shows fusing multimedia, storytelling and illusion. The multimedia sequences for this year’s tour were newly filmed, the company says, with support from Arts Council England.

Photographs from that shoot, taken by Andrew Billington and supplied by the company, show how much of the work happens nowhere near a stage: a camera rig and crew working with an actor in a bloodied eye bandage, prosthetic wounds being built at a dressing-room mirror, and a performer acting alone against a green screen. The prosthetics and makeup are by Nikoleta Tzani.

Ryan Simons, who wrote and directs the show and also plays Blair, said:

“From the moment they step aboard a haunted ship drifting through deep space, we want audiences to feel trapped inside a sci-fi horror film, with something hunting them in the dark. There are jump scares when they least expect them, but the real thrill comes from the relentless, edge-of-your-seat tension. It’s exciting, unsettling and completely absorbing, the kind of experience that stays with you long after you’ve left the theatre.”

Alex Moran, the producer, who plays Flint, said:

“With The Void, we’re creating something that sits somewhere between a film and a live theatrical experience, and that unique blend is what makes it so exciting. It’s all about making our stories visually impressive and placing the audience at the heart of everything we do. If you’d like to see how it’s done, step into the unknown and grab yourself a ticket.”

The AI question the show is built on

The hook is not only the scares. The story turns on surveillance, memory and a machine that knows more about the crew than they do, which is why the company is selling it as timely rather than retro. The AI character, NOVA, is a voice rather than a body, performed by Olwen May, whose screen credits include The Bay, Riot Women and Happy Valley.

Who is in it

Thunder Road announced the company for this tour on 24 August. Moran and Simons both reprise roles they played in the show’s first run.

Behind the show: Steve Marmion is dramaturg, Caitlin Mawhinney designed set and costume, Jason Furnival is associate director, Ben Parsons composed the score, Andrew Crofts lit it, Fine Entertainment designed the illusions, Dave Hackney is director of photography and Kaitlin Howard is fight director. Furnival, an actor of 35 years as well as a director, has played Richard III at the Stafford Gatehouse and toured for Birmingham Stage Company, and says he is looking forward to “building a bold, immersive and spine-chilling show that will leave audiences breathless”. The production photographs on this page are by Marc Brenner and the filming photographs by Andrew Billington.

Watch first

The trailer for this year’s tour, and the pair behind the show talking through what they were trying to build:

What the reviews said

The show toured before this autumn, so there are notices to read. Hull Is This gave it five stars and called it “one of those productions that stays with you long after you’ve left the venue”, gripping “from the first moment”. Jackstage gave four and said it “challenges the boundaries of theatre”, with Thunder Road “masters of staging the impossible right in front of our eyes”. North West End, also four stars, wrote that “the tension never eases and I found myself more than once bracing for something to happen”. What’s Good To Do, four again, called it “independent theatre at its best” and named the “truly claustrophobic atmosphere”, putting it alongside Alien, Event Horizon and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Those are the quotes the company circulates, not ours, but the outlets and the star ratings are named with them.

Thunder Road also films audiences on the way out. The words they reach for, in the company’s own collection of them, are scary, tense, mind-bending and thought provoking:

What it means for you

• It is one night only. There is no second Lichfield performance on this tour, and the next nearest date is Birmingham Rep on 27 and 28 October
• Book through the Garrick’s listing or on 01543 412121. The theatre is on Castle Dyke, WS13 6HR
• Age 13 and over is the theatre’s recommendation, not a legal restriction, but this is a horror show built on jump scares and sustained tension. Judge it on that rather than on the science fiction
• Driving in? Our guide to parking in Lichfield covers the evening rates at the city centre car parks
• The Garrick’s own autumn programme continues around it: the pantomime opens on 20 November, and there are more ideas in things to do in Lichfield

Sources

• The Void at the Lichfield Garrick, the theatre’s event listing, read 14 September 2026
• Thunder Road Theatre, the company’s own page for the show and its tour dates
• Thunder Road press releases of 24 August and 14 September 2026, supplied to Lichfield Today, including the full cast, creative team and tour listing
• Thunder Road’s press library, supplied to Lichfield Today on 14 September 2026: production and filming photographs, the trailer and interview films, cast and creative biographies, and the company’s file of press quotes