Daisy Hall's second play, a darkly comic story set aboard an icebound whaling ship, receives its world premiere at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs on 30 October. Here is everything you need to know before you book.
It is the second play by Daisy Hall, and the second to open in the studio at Hampstead Theatre, which commissioned it after her debut, Bellringers, sold out there in 2024. Dogstar runs in Hampstead Downstairs from Friday 30 October to Saturday 5 December 2026, directed by Lucy Morrison with a company of three.
Who is starring in Dogstar?
Justin Edwards plays Babben. His stage credits include The Ferryman in the West End and on Broadway, and on television he appeared in The Thick of It. Adam Rojko Vega, whose credits include On the War at the Royal Court Theatre, plays Gorey, and Abdul Jalloh, who graduated from RADA this year, plays Sam.
What is Dogstar about?
The setting is a whaling ship that has been locked in the polar ice for months, its crew whalers in a sea with no whales left in it. Men are dying, food is short, and the talk below decks has turned to blame and to mutiny. Then the survivors begin to see the same visions. The play leaves open whether they are a symptom of scurvy, the work of the endless polar night, or something closer to salvation.
Hall has described the piece as a kind of fairytale fixed to a very particular time and place. "With Dogstar I was interested in writing a kind of fairytale, but one set in a very specific time and place," she said. "I am so excited to be returning to Hampstead Theatre and to be working with Lucy Morrison and such a brilliant cast and creative team." The theatre gives an age guidance of 14+, and lists death, illness, strong language and sudden loud noises among its content warnings.
Who is behind the production?
Morrison returns to Hampstead after directing Personal Values, a sell-out there in 2025, as well as Akedah and The Animal Kingdom. Before that she spent nearly a decade as an Associate Director of the Royal Court, where her productions included Hope Has a Happy Meal, That Is Not Who I Am and Scenes with girls. Hall, a finalist for the Women's Prize for Playwriting in 2023, is a member of the Royal Court's long-form playwriting group.
The design is by Hannah Schmidt, with lighting by Holly Ellis and sound by Anna Short. Bret Yount is the fight director and Verity Richards the assistant director. Greg Ripley-Duggan, Hampstead's Producer and Chief Executive, has called the play "every bit as imaginative, compelling and darkly funny as the first play".
When and where can I see it?
The run opens with previews on Friday 30 October 2026 and closes on Saturday 5 December 2026, in the Downstairs studio on Eton Avenue. Evening performances begin at 7.45pm, with 2.45pm matinees on Thursdays and Saturdays and some earlier 7pm evening starts. There are two captioned performances, on Wednesday 2 December at 7.45pm and Thursday 3 December at 2.45pm.
The studio is small, and several dates are already marked as selling fast on the theatre's own calendar, with two November evenings sold out. Tickets for Dogstar are available on our show page.
What else should I book if I like it?
Hampstead itself has the two most natural follow-ups. Mother Russia, by Lauren Yee and directed by Oscar Toeman, takes over the Downstairs studio from 11 December, and the theatre is also reviving Tom Stoppard's Jumpers this season.
For a play that bends time and history to similar comic and unsettling effect, Caryl Churchill's Cloud 9 opens at the National Theatre's Lyttelton on 2 November, directed by Dominic Cooke.
