Houdini’s reappearing act: David Haig’s new play lays bare the magician’s dispute with Conan Doyle

An interest in spiritualism drew the escapologist and the Sherlock Holmes author together but, as actor-playwright Haig’s drama Magic shows, also threw them into conflict It’s the question most often posed to artists: where do you get your ideas from? David Haig’s answer is: I ask Google. Preserve the mystique, man! Haig is celebrated both as an actor (Killing Eve, The Thin Blue Line) and playwright, whose 2004 hit My Boy Jack was adapted for TV and whose follow-up Pressure is now a forthcomi...

By Brian Logan