Hey Presto!, a magic musical show for under-7s and their families, is to tour the North, giving 47 performances in 38 libraries, village halls and community centres between 22 September and 30 October.
A Durham Book Festival commission, produced by New Writing North with funding from Arts Council England’s Strategic touring fund, Hey Presto! is adapted by Newcastle-based playwright Laura Lindow from the popular picture book by author-illustrator Nadia Shireen.
Presto the cat and Monty the dog are best friends. Monty (played by Matthew Gundel) is great at singing, eating ice cream and pulling funny faces, while Presto (played by Samantha Morris) is a brilliant magician. When the carnival comes to town, Presto and Monty decide to join up with their amazing magic act. The show is a huge success, but fame goes to Monty’s head. Can they work out how to work together, before it’s too late?
Also in the cast are singer, songwriter, actor, and music educator Claire Tustin and musician Ziad Jabero of world music band The Baghdaddies. The play is directed by Ruth Johnson who directed two previous Book Festival commissions, Man on the Moon and The Worst Princess.
Full tour—Co Durham, Tyne and Wear, Northumberland, the North West (Cumbria and Manchester) and Yorkshire (Leeds and Wakefield)—details can be found on the show’s web site.
Anna Disley, programme director at New Writing North and producer of Hey, Presto!, said, “We feel very lucky to have Nadia Shireen’s permission to adapt this brilliant picture book, which is full of laughter and fun, as well as a very heart-warming message about friendship and the fact that we are all different but all have our own special talents, which should be celebrated and nurtured.
“This is our fourth children’s theatre production for Durham Book Festival, and an important feature of the tour is that we visit many rural areas and places without their own theatres. We want to show our audiences that theatre and art can take place wherever you are. We are looking forward to returning to some of the venues we visited last year, and to meeting the children at new venues.”