Charles Dickens’ classic gothic ghost story The Signalman is set to be performed in the abandoned tunnels beneath Brighton Station for the first time this Halloween. Produced by immersive theatre company Hydrocracker Productions, the site-specific adaptation runs from 15 October to 8 November 2026.
The chilling narrative follows a weary traveller who encounters a lonely railway worker stationed in a gloomy cutting near a dark tunnel mouth. The troubled worker reveals that a spectral phantom appears to him shortly before fatal accidents occur on the line. Though the visitor attempts to offer rational explanations for the sightings, he is soon confronted with harrowing phenomena that defy logic.
Dickens penned the haunting tale in 1866, heavily influenced by his own traumatic experience surviving the deadly Staplehurst rail crash in Kent a year earlier.
The production stars Oliver Clayton (The Play That Goes Wrong, Netflix's Black Doves) as The Signalman alongside Hydrocracker co-founder Jem Wall (Andor, Game of Thrones, RSC) as The Visitor. The staging is directed by Nathan Crossan-Smith, Associate Director at the Royal Opera House and 2025 The Stage Debut Award nominee.
Adapted by three-time Edinburgh Fringe First winner Jonathan Holloway, this version originally aired on BBC Radio 4 before being reimagined for the stage. Holloway’s script promises a fresh, unexpected twist on Dickens’ original text within the claustrophobic setting of the Victorian subterranean vaults.
Supported by the GTR Rail 200 Improvement Fund as part of the UK railway bicentenary celebrations, the production transforms the subterranean space under Brighton Station into a fully immersive theatrical venue. Alongside the main performance run, the season will feature guided underground tunnel tours, special post-show panel talks, and an accessible British Sign Language (BSL) interpreted performance on 6 November.
Suitable for audiences aged 12 and above, The Signalman runs from 15 October to 8 November 2026 under Brighton Rail Station. Tickets start from £20 and are available to book now via the official Brighton Dome website.
