LITTLE Angel Theatre’s new adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book is booked into York Theatre Royal from today to Saturday.
The touring production for three to eight-year-olds reunites adaptors Barb Jungr and Samantha Lane – who also directs – after their Olivier-nominated collaboration on The Smartest Giant In Town, another picture book Donaldson and illustrator Scheffler published by Macmillan Children’s Books.
Charlie Cook loves reading, especially books about pirates, but his sister hates it. “It’s boring!” she protests. Can Charlie convince her that reading is fun? Perhaps if she read a book about a pirate, who is reading a book about Goldilocks, who is reading a book about a knight…
Little Angel Theatre invites you to delve into a range of books with Charlie, brought to life with puppetry and enchanting songs, and “maybe you will be able to help his sister discover the wonderful world inside a book”.
“I am delighted that Little Angel Theatre has adapted Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book for the stage,” says Julia Donaldson. “It is a book that celebrates the joy of reading in many forms: books, magazines and even encyclopaedias.
“It is a book within a book within a book – in fact in there are 11 books in total – complete with pirates, ghosts, dragons and aliens, to name a few. I am excited that the story has moved from page to stage, complete with puppets and songs, and that the production will travel across the UK this year.”
Axel Scheffler adds: “Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book is very different to the other stories by Julia that I have illustrated, as it is made up of many stories in one book. I enjoyed illustrating the different genres and creating the various characters, and it is great to see my illustrations now come to life on the stage.
“Little Angel Theatre’s clever production team has designed and created animal puppets that actually appear out of their individual books as their stories happen, which is such a brilliant idea. I am delighted to see Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book come to life on stage and I know that all our readers, young and old, will enjoy this production.”
Little Angel Theatre, The Lowry and Rose Theatre, Kingston, present Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book, York Theatre Royal, today, 4.30pm; tomorrow, 10.30am (relaxed performance), 1pm, 4.30pm; Saturday, 10.30am, 1.30pm, 3.30pm. Age guidance: three to eight. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
Did you know?
GEORGIE Samuels, a familiar face around the Yorkshire cultural scene, such as when she was events manager at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre, is making her professional stage debut as Mum in Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book after studying for a BA Hons in Acting at Leeds Conservatoire.
