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May 5, 2025
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Royal Society of Literature Partners with London Library to Celebrate Dalloway Day

This immersive theatrical experience is directed by award-winning theatre maker Helen Tennison in collaboration with Creation Theatre, renowned for their site-specific adaptations of classic texts

In celebration of the centenary of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) has announced an exciting partnership with Creation Theatre and The London Library to present a new immersive theatre adaptation of the iconic novel. The production headlines a special programme of events this June, marking 100 years since the book’s publication in 1925.

The innovative adaptation of Mrs Dalloway, which takes audiences on a journey through post-war London, will premiere in both London and Oxford. Participants will be invited to take tea with Clarissa Dalloway, walk the streets alongside her, and experience her innermost thoughts in a unique, multisensory performance. Through intimate storytelling and rich staging, the production brings Woolf’s vivid characters and themes of memory, identity, and social change to life.

This immersive theatrical experience is directed by award-winning theatre maker Helen Tennison in collaboration with Creation Theatre, renowned for their site-specific adaptations of classic texts.

Dr Helen Eastman, CEO and Artistic Director of Creation Theatre, shared, “There is a particular focus on juxtaposing Clarissa’s inner thoughts with her external world, and finding the most effective way to bring this unique, genre-defining work to the stage. We greatly look forward to welcoming audiences into Clarissa’s world.”

Set within the atmospheric spaces of The London Library—where Woolf herself once wandered—the production allows audiences to explore the elegant streets of St James’s, encounter unforgettable characters, and eavesdrop on their thoughts via earpieces as they move through the experience. The show will also be performed in Oxford, promising the same timeless and emotionally resonant storytelling. Each performance culminates with Mrs Dalloway’s unforgettable party, offering a memorable conclusion to this deeply immersive encounter.

Beyond the theatre production, the RSL’s Dalloway Day celebrations expand to include literary, musical, and scholarly tributes. The Charleston Festival will feature Dalloway 100, a flagship event on 14 May that breathes new life into Woolf’s work. The evening will include live music from the Chineke! Chamber Orchestra, performing Florence B. Price’s String Quartet No. 1 in G Major and selections from Max Richter’s Woolf Works, accompanied by readings from Mrs Dalloway. Noted writers including Caleb Azumah Nelson, Edmund de Waal, and Deborah Levy will also present new creative responses to the novel in this multi-artform event.
The British Library will host A Century of Mrs Dalloway on 18 June, a special evening featuring a panel of artists and scholars reflecting on the novel’s continued resonance. Speakers include Phelim McDermott, director of the opera The Hours at the Metropolitan Opera in New York; Professor Merve Emre, editor of The Annotated Mrs Dalloway; and RSL Fellow Elaine Showalter, who in 2016 famously called for an annual “Dallowday” to be celebrated each June. “I think Dallowday is a date worth celebrating – it should be the occasion of readings, exhibitions, performances and revelry,” Showalter wrote in The Guardian.

Showalter’s idea has since become a reality, with the RSL’s Dalloway Day offering an annual platform for appreciation, exploration, and reinterpretation of Woolf’s landmark work. The Royal Society of Literature, founded in 1820, continues to uphold its mission to advance the literary arts in the UK through public engagement, support for writers, and celebration of literature’s power to connect.

Creation Theatre, based in Oxford, has been reimagining literary classics in unconventional venues for over 25 years. Previous acclaimed productions at The London Library include Dracula and The Time Machine. The Library, one of the UK’s most treasured literary institutions, has played a central role in the country’s creative output for over 180 years, with a circulating collection of around one million titles and a thriving community of readers and writers.

Performances of Mrs Dalloway by Creation Theatre will take place in London from 10–15 June and in Oxford from 18–22 June. Tickets are priced at £35, with a 10% discount available to RSL and London Library members for selected dates. Refreshments are included.
Key Dates:
·Mrs Dalloway immersive theatre: London (10–15 June), Oxford (18–22 June)
·Dalloway 100, Charleston Festival: 14 May, 7:30pm
·A Century of Mrs Dalloway, British Library: 18 June, 7:30pm
For more information and booking details, visit: https://rsliterature.org/what-is-on/dalloway-day-events

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