Harry Houdini is the greatest illusionist the world has ever known. Arthur Conan Doyle is the creator of literature’s most brilliant detective, Sherlock Holmes.

Their mutual admiration blossoms into a profound friendship, even as they discover a shared obsession with spiritualism. Conan Doyle believes fervently in the psychic world and the promise of reunion with his dead son; Houdini is determined to demonstrate it’s a cruel fraud. Which of these sparring partners will be proved right: the genius writer of fiction or the infallible magician?

Based on extraordinary historical events, Magic asks what we’re prepared to believe, and why.

David Haig’s play Pressure (in which he also starred) premiered at Chichester in 2014 and went on to West End and international success; the movie will be released this year. An award-winning actor whose many credits include Yes Prime Minister and Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me at Chichester, and on screen Killing Eve, COBRA, Etoile and Four Weddings and a Funeral, David Haig will also play Conan Doyle.

Hadley Fraser plays Houdini, returning to Chichester where he last appeared in The Deep Blue Sea; his London credits include The Lehman Trilogy, 2:22 and City of Angels.

Check website for full schedule.