The Silence of Snow: The Life of Patrick Hamilton

The Silence of Snow: The Life of Patrick Hamilton is a riveting, kinetic solo show which vividly portrays the life of one of the great English writers of the inter-war years, who gave us the term 'gaslighting', meaning to manipulate a person's sense of reality.

Patrick Hamilton (1904 – 1962) was a dazzling success whilst still in his twenties, producing the hit plays Rope and Gaslight, and classic novels like Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky, Hangover Square and The Slaves of Solitude.

But he was also an alcoholic, whose wit became increasingly mordant as his inner and outer worlds collapsed. Set in an electro-therapy clinic in the 1950s, and covering the entire sweep of Hamilton’s turbulent life, The Silence of Snow has gripped audiences wherever it has been performed.

An arresting blend of original writing and extracts from Hamilton’s finest works, the play is a powerful cautionary tale about the dangers of not confronting one’s own inner chaos. It is also a hugely witty and engaging tribute to a great English writer.

Debuting at the Edinburgh Festival 2014, the play immediately transferred to a run at London’s Old Red Lion Theatre. It has since been performed over a hundred times across the UK. In 2023 the play won Best Solo at the London Pub Theatre Awards. Its many rave reviews include this from The Times: “You won’t be able to take your eyes off this magnetic actor Mark Farrelly. He inhabits the character of Hamilton with a blazing fluidity”.