The sleight-of-hand artist Harry Milas is to present a new show, Harry Milas: Magic In The Ditch, in the rooms beneath Shoreditch Town Hall this winter, under the direction of Patrick Marber.
Harry Milas: Magic In The Ditch will run for three weeks only at The Ditch, Shoreditch Town Hall, from Friday 20 November to Friday 11 December 2026. It is created and performed by Milas, an Australian magician now based in London, and directed by the Tony Award-winning Patrick Marber. Tickets start at £20.
The Ditch is the name given to the network of hidden corridors and handsome old rooms that lie beneath the town hall. Milas is making an intimate, immersive evening for the space, in which close-up card work is set beside storytelling, a personal reckoning and a number of risky stunts.
His route into magic ran through the methods of card sharps and con artists. He learned their hidden techniques thoroughly enough to be engaged to train casino security staff in how to catch them at the table.
“I'm thrilled to be back in London to build this,” said Milas. “This is by far the biggest and most ambitious show I've ever made. It's an evening of unique magic, rich storytelling and dangerous stunts, and one of them has taken me two years to get to the point where I can perform it in front of an audience. The Ditch is exactly the right room to do it for the first time.”
Marber said that Milas's earlier show, The Unfair Advantage, was “one of my favourite theatre experiences last year”, adding that he was “really thrilled to be working with him” on the new piece.
The new show follows The Unfair Advantage, in which Milas seated 35 people at a time around a card table. It won Best Magic at the Adelaide Fringe and held a residency inside a pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, before playing Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, La Jolla Playhouse, Seattle Rep, the Edinburgh Fringe and a West End season at @sohoplace. He has also designed magic for Australian theatre companies, among them Belvoir.
Marber is an Olivier Award-winning playwright and a Tony Award-winning director. His directing work includes Leopoldstadt on Broadway, Travesties, The Producers and Glengarry Glen Ross, and his own plays include Closer, Dealer's Choice and Don Juan in Soho.
The creative team is completed by designer Isabella Van Braeckel, sound designer and composer Sarah Spencer and magic consultant Nathan Wilson. The production comes from Barbary Bry and Neil Senturia, with Patrick Myles and David Luff as executive producers and Wild Yak as general managers.
For more information, visit the official website.
