Following a sell-out run in 2019, this thrilling new version of Sophie Ellerby’s LIT has been specially filmed for audiences to enjoy at home, and you can be amongst the first to see it by booking for our Watch Party of June 1st with Nottingham Playhouse.

“I’m making him work for it. Got him to buy me a pack of Tangfastics and a can of Lilt before I showed him my tits.” 

The problem with love is that it’s different for everyone. For Bex, love is a handjob in detention and the promise of a date at a Chinese buffet. She doesn’t even like Chinese.

LIT explores the turbulent teenage years of a girl looking for love in all the wrong places, and reunites director Stef O’Driscoll with rising star Eve Austin – reprising her role as Bex following a nomination for Best Actress in a New Play (Broadway World Awards).

Join us and the Nottingham Playhouse for the evening to be the first to see this landmark digital revival.

Content Warning

LIT (Watch Party and On Demand) is a filmed play. It contains depictions of and references to sex and sexual violence, rape of a minor and underage pregnancy. It also contains themes of sexism, misogyny, the foster and care system and the adoption system.

Extreme care has been taken to protect and support all those involved throughout the development of this production. Whilst LIT is not an autobiographical story, it is a true to life depiction of the lived experience of young people living in the UK today.

If you are affected by the details, characters or stories depicted within the story, links to organisations that can offer further support to victims, perpetrators and those living with the impact and traumas of abuse are included at the end of the film.

Suitable for ages 16+

Trailer

Behind the Scenes

How It Works

You can book a ticket for LIT here via the Nottingham Playhouse website. Tickets are £10.

Once you have booked, you will receive an email with your e-ticket attached. This e-ticket will contain a link to the page on the website where the recording will be accessed. You will need to be logged in to Nottingham Playhouse account.

If you don’t receive your e-ticket straight away after purchasing, please check your spam/junk folders.

If you are using a smart TV, you should be able to access the show through your browser. You can find help and advice on this and more on the Nottingham Playhouse FAQs page.

Access

Captioning will be available for the LIT Watch Party.

Once you’ve rented the show, you can activate the captions on the recording by clicking on the icon labelled ‘CC’ in the video frame and then select ‘English (United Kingdom) CC’. To turn captions off, repeat this process but select ‘None’ instead.

There will also be a version of the recording with BSL interpretation and audio description.

Listen to Eve Austin and Suba Das Discuss LIT with Jon Wright on BBC Suffolk

It has an infectious energy

The Stage

'pertinent to contemporary discussion'

A Younger Theatre

Lit is as good a debut as I can recall in ten years as a reviewer

Broadway World, Gary Naylor

'a debut play which tackles provocative societal questions in a very human way'

East Midlands Theatre

Cast & Creatives

  • Eve Austin Bex
  • Josh Barrow Dillon
  • Tiger Cohen-Towell Ruth
  • Maxine Finch Sylvia
  • Kieran Hardcastle Lee
  • Jim Pope Mark
  • Sophie Ellerby Writer
    Sophie studied drama at the University of Manchester. She was awarded a place on HighTide’s First Commission scheme in 2016 and wrote her debut play LIT, which will be produced by HighTide and Nottingham Playhouse in 2019. Other work includes THREE, performed at the Arcola Theatre in 2017 and both Function and crabs for the National Youth Theatre. She is currently under commission to the National Youth Theatre and Fifth Word Theatre and is Writer in Residence at Pentabus Theatre for 2018/19. Sophie is dedicated to working on projects that challenge social norms and ignite community imagination. Her plays aim to tackle provocative societal questions in an accessible and human way.
  • Stef O'Driscoll Director
    Stef is the Artistic Director of nabokov and previously the Associate Director at Paines Plough and at the Lyric Hammersmith. Upcoming directing includes: LIT by Sophie Ellerby (Nottingham Playhouse and HighTide September 2019) and A HISTORY OF WATER IN THE MIDDLE EAST by Sabrina Mahfouz (Royal Court October 2019). For Paines Plough: Daughterhood by Charley Miles; On The Other Hand, We’re Happy by Daf James; Dexter and Winter’s Detective Agency by Nathan Bryon; Sticks and Stones by Vinay Patel; Island Town by Simon Longman; With A Little Bit Of Luck by Sabrina Mahfouz; Hopelessly Devoted by Kate Tempest; Blister by Laura Lomas; and as Assistant Director: Wasted by Kate Tempest. For nabokov: Last Night by Benin City (Roundhouse/Latitude); Box Clever by Monsay Whitney (Marlowe Theatre/Roundabout/Bunker); Storytelling Army (Brighton Festival) and Slug by Sabrina Mahfouz (Latitude). For the Lyric, as Co Director: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; as Associate Director: Mogadishu (Manchester Royal Exchange); as Assistant Director: Blasted – winner Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre 2011. Other Director credits: Yard Gal by Rebecca Prichard – winner Fringe Report Awards for Best Fringe Production 2009 (Oval House); A Tale From The Bedsit by Paul Cree (Roundhouse/Bestival); Finding Home by Cecilia Knapp (Roundhouse); A Guide To Second Date Sex and When Women Wee (Underbelly/Soho) and as Assistant Director: Henry IV (Donmar/St Anne’s Warehouse).