Richard Ayoade: The Unfinished Harauld Hughes
Join Richard Ayoade for an evening of live readings around the story of uncovering his doppelgänger, in conversation with novelist and poet Joe Dunthorne.
In The Unfinished Harauld Hughes, Ayoade chronicles his dogged quest to rescue Harauld Hughes – the great mid-century playwright – from obscurity.
He first chanced upon a copy of The Two-Hander Trilogy by Harauld Hughes in a second-hand bookshop. At first startled by his uncanny resemblance to the author’s photo, he opened the volume and was electrified.
Terse, aggressive, and elliptical, what was true of Ayoade was also true of Hughes’s writing, which encompassed stage, screen, and some of the shortest poems ever published.
In this event of lookalike and literary excavations, Richard Ayoade returns to the Royal Festival Hall to accomplish the quest, diving deep into the world of Harauld Hughes in conversation with Joe Dunthorne.
Joe Dunthorne is a novelist and poet. His debut novel, Submarine, was adapted for film and his second, Wild Abandon, won the Royal Society of Literature’s Encore Award. His poetry collection, O Positive, was published in 2019 by Faber & Faber. He lives in London.
Need to know
Copies of The Unfinished Harauld Hughes are available to purchase as an optional add-on at point of checkout for the discounted price of £12.99 (RRP £16.99). Books must be collected from Foyles in the foyer on the night as we are unable to distribute them afterwards.
Exclusive box package available, including:
Hire of a private box (seats up to 8 people)
One free drink per guest on arrival (prosecco, wine, beer or soft drink)
Dedicated host to take drinks orders throughout the event
Times & tickets
Dates, times and prices
Dates & times
01 Oct 2024, 8pm
Standard entry
from £15.00*
* Excludes £3.50 booking fee.
Book as early as you can to ensure the best choice of tickets. Ticket prices may be adjusted without notice to reflect demand.
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Access
Access events
This event is British Sign Language interpreted (BSL) and Speech-to-Text transcribed (STT). Interpretation is by Omoyele Davey and Rachel Wilkins (subject to change).
To book tickets for BSL interpretation, email [email protected] or call us on 020 3879 9555.
You can join our free Access Scheme through your online Southbank Centre account or via email.
Find out more about our Access Scheme
All our Access & facilities information
For your visit
This event is held at the Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre
The Royal Festival Hall is open daily.
Monday & Tuesday, 10am – 6pm*
Wednesday – Sunday, 10am – 11pm
*If we’re hosting a performance, the building will stay open until the event ends.
Plan your visit
The Royal Festival Hall is home to our largest auditorium as well as The Clore Ballroom, National Poetry Library, Members’ Lounge, Festival Bar & Kitchen, Ballroom Cafe and Skylon restaurant.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
On Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall you can grab a slice of life by the Thames with drinks and freshly made pizza at our Festival Bar & Kitchen which opens out onto our Riverside Terrace. You can grab a coffee and a slice of freshly made cake from our Ballroom Cafe. Or alternatively enjoy destination dining in the restaurant at Skylon.
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.