Children’s author David Walliams has come face to face for the first time with one of his most monstrous creations, Aunt Alberta.
The world première of Awful Auntie, the UK’s bestselling children’s paperback in 2016, is to go on a national tour. It has been adapted by Birmingham Stage Company who produced Walliams’s Gangsta Granny which ran at the Garrick in the West End and also toured.
Timothy Speyer takes the role of Aunt Alberta. He has appeared at the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company and returns to Birmingham Stage Company for this tour.
Alberta’s niece Stella, who has to fight for her life against her murderous aunt, is played by Georgina Leonidas. Ashley Cousins who plays Soot, the ghost of Saxby Hall, and Richard James who plays Gibbon, the elderly butler, both appeared in Gangsta Granny.
Walliams said, “Birmingham Stage Company's Gangsta Granny is truly brilliant, so I’m hugely excited that they’re now bringing Awful Auntie to the stage. It promises to be a thrilling show and a total hoot—I can’t wait to see it!”
Neal Foster, Birmingham Stage Company’s actor / manager, adapts and directs Awful Auntie. Design is by Jackie Trousdale, lighting by Jason Taylor, sound by Nick Sagar, special effects by Scott Penrose and music by Jak Poore.
Awful Auntie is at The Capitol, Horsham from 21 until 24 September and tours to 40 other venues until November 2018. A full list of dates is available at the Birmingham Stage Company web site.