About the Book
A dark and visceral coming-of-age vampire love story, based on the acclaimed novel and film.
Oskar is a bullied, lonely, teenage boy living with his mother on a housing estate at the edge of town, when a spate of sinister killings rocks the neighbourhood.
Eli is the young girl who has just moved in next door. She doesn't go to school and never leaves the flat by day. Sensing in each other a kindred spirit, the two become devoted friends. What Oskar doesn’t know is that Eli has been a teenager for a very long time…
Jack Thorne's adaptation of Let The Right One In, based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, premiered in June 2013 at the Dundee Rep Theatre in a production by the National Theatre of Scotland, before transferring to London's Royal Court Theatre in November 2013. It won the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Theatre in 2014.
'Exquisitely sad and witty... [it will] wring your heart while scaring the mortal stuffing out of you'
— New York Times
'Extraordinary… sets new standards in atmospheric scariness… takes you to the edge of human experience with eye-opening candour, beauty and ingenuity'
— WhatsOnStage
'Astonishing... at once beautifully intimate and bedazzingly epic'
— Time Out
'Exquisitely beautiful and heartbreakingly sad… so painfully tender that, as you watch the show, it feels as if layers of your skin are gradually being flayed from your body'
— Guardian
'Remarkable… gratifyingly scary… dark and striking'
— Telegraph
'Moving and haunting... a rich and beautiful theatrical experience that is by turns gripping and tender'
— Herald
'A chilling and moving piece of theatre, full of pain, terror and unexpected moments of comedy'
— Scotsman
South Bank Sky Arts Award for Theatre
About the Author :
Jack Thorne is a playwright and BAFTA-winning screenwriter.
His plays for the stage include: When Winston Went to War with the Wireless (Donmar Warehouse, 2023); The Motive and the Cue (National Theatre and West End, 2023; Evening Standard Award for Best Play; Critics' Circle Award for Best New Play); After Life, an adaptation of a film by Hirokazu Kore-eda (National Theatre, 2021); the end of history... (Royal Court, London, 2019); an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (Old Vic, London, 2017); an adaptation of Büchner's Woyzeck (Old Vic, London, 2017); Junkyard (Headlong, Bristol Old Vic, Rose Theatre Kingston & Theatr Clwyd, 2017); Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace Theatre, London, 2016); The Solid Life of Sugar Water (Graeae and Theatre Royal Plymouth, 2015); Hope (Royal Court, London, 2015); adaptations of Let the Right One In (National Theatre of Scotland at Dundee Rep, the Royal Court and the Apollo Theatre, London, 2013/14) and Stuart: A Life Backwards (Underbelly, Edinburgh and tour, 2013); Mydidae (Soho, 2012; Trafalgar Studios, 2013); an adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's The Physicists (Donmar Warehouse, 2012); Bunny (Underbelly, Edinburgh, 2010; Soho, 2011); 2nd May 1997 (Bush, 2009); When You Cure Me (Bush, 2005; Radio 3's Drama on Three, 2006); Fanny and Faggot (Pleasance, Edinburgh, 2004 and 2007; Finborough, 2007; English Theatre of Bruges, 2007; Trafalgar Studios, 2007); and Stacy (Tron, 2006; Arcola, 2007; Trafalgar Studios, 2007).
His television work includes Adolescence (with Stephen Graham), His Dark Materials, Then Barbara Met Alan (with Genevieve Barr), The Eddy, Help, The Accident, Kiri, National Treasure and This is England '86/'88/'90.
His films include The Swimmers (with Sally El Hosaini), Enola Holmes, Radioactive, The Aeronauts and Wonder.
He was the recipient of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Outstanding Contribution to Writing in 2022, and was elected the Guild's President in 2025.
Author photo by Antonio Olmos
Review :
'Exquisitely sad and witty... [it will] wring your heart while scaring the mortal stuffing out of you'
'Extraordinary… sets new standards in atmospheric scariness… takes you to the edge of human experience with eye-opening candour, beauty and ingenuity'
'Astonishing... at once beautifully intimate and bedazzingly epic'
'Exquisitely beautiful and heartbreakingly sad… so painfully tender that, as you watch the show, it feels as if layers of your skin are gradually being flayed from your body'
'Remarkable… gratifyingly scary… dark and striking'
'Moving and haunting... a rich and beautiful theatrical experience that is by turns gripping and tender'
'A chilling and moving piece of theatre, full of pain, terror and unexpected moments of comedy'
