The world stage premiere production of SJ Watson’s international bestseller Before I Go to Sleep is set to visit Storyhouse next spring as part of a major UK and Ireland tour.
Acclaimed actor, author and podcaster Giovanna Fletcher will star as Christine in the production which comes to Chester from Tuesday 24 April – Saturday 28 April 2027.
Tickets cost from £25.80 for Storyhouse Members.
This gripping new adaptation is written by Rachel Wagstaff and directed by Loveday Ingram – the celebrated creative team behind the hugely successful 2025 adaptation of The Girl on the Train – and produced by Josh Andrews.
And the tour coincides with the publication of Watson’s long-awaited sequel – Before I Sleep Forever – which is due for release next May.
Giovanna Fletcher said today: “I read the international bestselling novel Before I Go to Sleep and was hooked, so I can’t wait to take this play to the stage in 2027 on our UK and Ireland tour. It’s a thrilling, chilling and captivating story that I know audiences will love.
“I’m also chuffed to be working with Rachel Wagstaff and Loveday Ingram again – the three of us loved working together on The Girl on the Train last year and are very happy to be reunited.”
SJ Watson added: “Before I go to sleep has lived many lives I never expected – and this feels like one of the most exciting yet. I can’t think of a better team to bring Christine’s story to the stage.”
The tense and fast-paced psychological thriller delves into the story of Christine, who appears to have an idyllic life – with one terrible exception. Every night, when she goes to sleep, she loses her memory. Every morning she wakes up remembering nothing from the last 20 years of her life, not even the loving husband lying next to her.
As she desperately tries to piece her life back together, hidden and terrifying truths begin to emerge, forcing her to question everything and everyone around her.
Exploring the fragility of memory, identity and trust, Before I Go to Sleep is set to be a thrilling stage production packed with suspense, shocking revelations and edge-of-your-seat twists that will keep audiences gripped until its devastating climax.
SJ Watson’s debut novel became a phenomenal international success, selling more than six million copies worldwide. It won the Crime Writers’ Association Award for Best Debut Novel and the Galaxy National Book Award for Crime Thriller of the Year, and has been translated into 40 languages. A film adaptation, starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth and Mark Strong, was released in 2014.
His second novel, Second Life, was published to acclaim in 2015, followed by Final Cut in 2020. He is currently at work on new fiction, with two further novels due for publication in 2027.
Giovanna Fletcher most recently led the UK tour of The Girl on the Train, in the role of Rachel Watson, and was previously seen in the West End run and UK tour as Miss Hedge in the critically acclaimed Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, after finishing leading the UK tour of Peter James’s Wish You Were Dead.
Other theatre credits include 2:22 A Ghost Story and Ivanov, both in the West End, as well as A Christmas Carol, Backbeat and The Christmasaurus. She also appeared in the film The Boat That Rocked.
Giovanna is also a hugely successful author, podcast host and Queen of the Castle after winning I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in 2020. In 2013, she published her first fiction book, Billy and Me, and 2021 saw her publish her sixth novel, Walking on Sunshine. Together with husband Tom Fletcher, the pair have combined to pen a trilogy of Sunday Times bestselling books, Giovanna’s first non-fiction book – Happy Mum, Happy Baby – was a number one bestseller that she later turned into an award-winning podcast with Pixiu, with more than 30 million listeners. Adding to her non-fiction work, in 2020 she wrote Letters on Motherhood, another bestseller.
Before I Go to Sleep is written by Rachel Wagstaff, directed by Loveday Ingram and produced by Josh Andrews, with lighting design by Jason Taylor. Further cast and creative team are yet to be revealed.
