It's Kind of Magic: a new play at Chichester Festival Theatre

World Premiere of David Haig's new play, Magic, at Chichester Festival Theatre, Directed by Lucy Bailey.

David Haig as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Hadley Fraser as Houdini

David Haig’s Magic brings together two towering figures of early 20th-century imagination and belief, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini, in a story shaped by illusion, grief and competing ideals. Set in a world still enthralled by spiritualism and spectacle, the play traces their unlikely friendship as it deepens into ideological opposition.

Houdini (Hadley Fraser), the great escapologist, is committed to exposing fraud and clinging to evidence and reason. Conan Doyle (David Haig), meanwhile, is drawn ever further into spiritualism, convinced that contact with the dead is possible and personally motivated by the loss of his son. Their relationship becomes the play’s central focus, oscillating between warmth, admiration and growing philosophical division.

The production finds its strongest moments in the sparring between belief and scepticism, even if some sections are weighed down by exposition. What remains engaging is the personal stake each man brings to the argument, turning abstract ideas into something intimate and human.

It is an intriguing and intelligently performed piece, with David Haig and Hadley Fraser giving conviction and humanity to two men locked in a battle between belief and reason. Yet for all its fascinating ideas and polished craftsmanship, Magic never quite conjures the sense of wonder its subject promises, remaining more intellectually engaging than genuinely spellbinding.