CHILDREN’S FAVOURITE TIGER RETURNS TO DINE IN NEWCASTLE ONCE AGAIN
North East children are in for a roaring treat as a stage adaptation of the much-loved classic The Tiger Who Came To Tea returns to Newcastle Theatre Royal this Summer, 29 June – 1 July 17.
The truly magical Olivier Award nominated West End production, which has played numerous sell-out runs at the Theatre Royal (most recently in 2015) is a musical play adapted from Judith Kerr’s ever popular tale. It is the ideal introduction to theatre for children aged three plus and the perfect treat for the whole family.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea book was published in 1968, and remains a perennial favourite read by several generations. When Sophie and her Mummy welcome the hungry Tiger to tea, he proceeds to eat all the sandwiches, buns, biscuits and more. He even manages to drink all the water in the tap! What will Sophie’s Daddy say when he gets home? Join Tiger, Sophie and her Mummy and Daddy, in this musical slice of teatime mayhem with sing-a-long songs, oodles of magic and interactive fun.
The production is adapted and directed by David Wood OBE, undisputedly the country’s leading writer and director of plays and musicals for children, whose many successes include: The Gingerbread Man, Guess How Much I Love You, eight Roald Dahl adaptations including West End hits The BFG, The Witches and George’s Marvellous Medicine; and the Olivier Award winning Goodnight Mister Tom.
Wood has been writing plays for children and families for almost fifty years and his productions are seen all over the world.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea was first performed at the Bloomsbury Theatre in 2008. The production has since gone on to tour nationally and internationally, playing four smash-hit summer seasons in the West End, Christmas seasons at the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Arts Centre, as well as sell-out dates in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and Bahrain.
Author Judith Kerr will celebrate her 94th birthday this year. In 2008 she approached Newcastle’s very own Seven Stories (The National Centre for Children’s Books) to house her archive. The most significant collection of artwork by a single illustrator in the Seven Stories Collection, Kerr’s archive spans 70 years, and includes childhood paintings, drawings from her student days, and finished artwork for most of her published books, including The Tiger Who Came to Tea.
The show is designed by Susie Caulcutt, movement director Emma Clayton and Music Arranger / Supervisor PeterPontzen, starring Abbey Norman (Sophie), Ashley Tucker (Mummy), Harry Howle (Daddy/Milkman/Postman/Tiger), Katie Arundell (Understudy/Wardrobe) and Jacob Jackson (Understudy/ASM). The Tiger Who Came to Tea is produced by Nick Brooke Ltd.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea is at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Thurs 29 June until Sat 1 July 2017, playing Thu & Fri at 10.30am & 1.30pm, Sat 10am & 12.30pm. Tickets from £14.50. Tickets can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 (Calls cost 7ppm plus your phone company’s access charge) or book online at www.theatreroyal.co.uk