Grand Opera House York until Saturday 17th February 2018. Reviewed by Michelle Richardson
3.5 ***
After the successful production of Gangsta Granny, another of David Walliams’ books, Awful Auntie, the biggest selling children’s book of 2014, has been bought to life on stage by The Birmingham Stage Company.
It’s about a 12, nearly 13 year old girl, Stella Saxby, Lady Stella Saxby in fact, who awakes from a coma to find that he’s wrapped head to toe in bandages to be told by her Aunt Alberta that she had broken every bone in her body, which turns out to be a total lie. She is also informed, somewhat brutally, that she is now an orphan after her parents died in the same car crash that put her in a coma. All her dreadful aunt is after are the deeds to Saxby Hall so that she can get her grubby hands on them and do away with poor Stella.
After coming to the conclusion that in fact her parents were murdered by her aunt, her father was too good of a driver, Stella realises that she has to escape, and so the fight begins. With the help of Saxby’s resident ghost, Soot, Stella find herself thwarted at every step by her awful auntie and her sidekick, a Bavarian owl named Wagner. But ultimately Wagner comes good and Alberta gets her comeuppance.
The set, designed by Jacqueline Trousdale, consists of several cylindrical towers, depicting rooms, doors and staircases, that rotate as and when. They are used to great effect, allowing characters to move up and down stairs and the chimney, and in and out of rooms, and all around the house. We also treated to a car, motorbike chase, all on stage, which was fun.
Georgina Leonidas plays a convincing 12 year old Stella, bringing innocence and youthful energy to the role. We are all rooting for her! Ashley Cousins plays Soot, the ghost killed in the house years ago. His cheeky cockney chimney sweep is a charming and endearing character that you can’t help fell sorry for. Timothy Speyer plays the horrid Aunt Alberta with an evil glint in his/her eye, really relishing the character. Richard James pops up every now and then as the doddery, confused butler Gibbon, giving us slapstick comedy and making the audience laugh.
For me the star of the show was Wagner, the Bavarian owl. Roberta Bellekom is the puppeteer behind Wagner, and does a fantastic job. I was thoroughly memorised by the owl, especially when in flight, you can almost forget that she was there controlling it all, and some of the expressions on his face, as well as hers were priceless. There were several puppets throughout, a couple of Wagners and miniature characters, all wonderful and created by the very talented, Sue Dacre.
Awful Auntie is certainly a madcap adventure and obviously has a great fan base, as all the children in the audience attested to, especially loving the toilet humour. No doubt this show will be as successful as Gangsta Granny.