“Awful Auntie”, Starring Georgina Leonidas, Set to Open in London

by · Published · Updated

A stage production of the hugely successful children’s book Awful Auntie, starring Georgina Leonidas (Katie Bell), is set to open at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre this December, after a 15-month tour of the United Kingdom.

Having sold 1.2 million copies since its publication in 2014, Awful Auntie, written by British author and comedian David Walliams, is a hit with children and parents alike. The stage adaptation has proved just as popular and has seen Leonidas and the rest of the cast of Awful Auntie perform over 300 times since beginning their tour of the UK in September 2017.

 

 

 

Awful Auntie follows Stella (Leonidas), who wakes up three months after a car crash that killed her parents and has left her as the only inheritor of a large manor house, Saxby Hall. The only person who can recount the past three months to Stella is her Aunt Alberta (Richard James). However, all is not as it seems and it soon becomes clear that Aunt Alberta has ulterior motives!

The production will take up a three-week residency at the newly renovated Bloomsbury Theatre in December, just in time for the festive season.

 

 

You can catch Leonidas and her fellow castmates in Awful Auntie from December 12 to January 5 at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London. Tickets can be purchased here.

Press Release

BIRMINGHAM STAGE COMPANY’S PRODUCTION OF DAVID WALLIAMS’ AWFUL AUNTIE TO OPEN AT BLOOMSBURY THEATRE AFTER ITS MAJOR RENOVATION

Birmingham Stage Company presents AWFUL AUNTIE
Written and Directed by Neal Foster

12 December – 5 January

Fresh from a fifteen month UK tour Birmingham Stage Company today announces a London run for David Walliams’ Awful Auntie - opening the Bloomsbury Theatre following the venue's major renovation. Adapted and directed by Neal Foster the production opens on 12 December and runs until 5 January.

When Stella sets off to visit London with her parents, Lord and Lady Saxby, she has no idea her life is in danger! Waking up three months later, only her Aunt Alberta can tell Stella what has happened. But not everything Alberta tells her turns out to be true and Stella quickly discovers she’s in for the fight of her life against her very own awful Auntie!

Awful Auntie was published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in September 2014 and has sold over 1.2 million copies. It has helped to make Walliams the country’s best-selling children’s author

David Walliams is a phenomenon in the world of children’s books. Since the publication of his first novel, The Boy in the Dress (2008), he has seen ten years of unprecedented growth. With a canon of ten chartbusting novels, three short story collections and five hilarious picture books, Walliams has cemented his place as one of the most important children’s authors of our time. Three of his books have been awarded Children’s Book of the Year at the National Book Awards. Additionally, The Boy in the Dress, Ratburger, Mr Stink, Grandpa’s Great Escape and Gangsta Granny have all been adapted for TV. As well as being a bestselling children’s author, Walliams is one of Britain’s most popular writers and comic actors. Along with Matt Lucas, he created the BAFTA award-winning Little Britain which also played to over 1 million people on tour across the UK, Ireland and Australia. He starred in the Agatha Christie TV series Partners in Crime and as Frankie Howerd in the biopic Rather You Than Me. He is also a judge on one of the biggest shows on television, Britain’s Got Talent.

Neal Foster is the adapter and director of the show. He is the Actor/Manager of Birmingham Stage Company which since its foundation in 1992 has staged over eighty productions. The company has become one of the world’s leading producers of theatre for children and their families, including Horrible Histories Live on Stage for thirteen years in the UK, Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. Foster has written and directed all of the most recent Horrible Histories shows including Barmy Britain – Parts One, Two and Three (Garrick Theatre, Apollo Theatre and Sydney Opera House); Groovy Greeks and Incredible Invaders for a national tour and Wicked Warwick at Warwick Castle. Barmy Britain Part Four debuts at the Apollo Theatre in August. His first fictional adaptation was Gangsta Granny, which returns to the West End for a limited run at the Harold Pinter Theatre in August.

Leading the company in the role of Awful Auntie is Richard James (Aunt Alberta), Roberta Bellekom (Wagner), Ashley Cousins (Soot), Harry Sutherland (Gibbon) and Georgina Leonidas (Stella). Awful Auntie is adapted and directed by Neal Foster, designed by Jackie Trousdale, with lighting by Jason Taylor, sound by Nick Sagar and music by Jak Poore.

Awful Auntie is suitable for ages 5 +

Twitter: @_AwfulAuntie

Facebook: birminghamstage

Running time: 2 hr including interval

Awful Auntie
Bloomsbury Theatre
15 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AH

12 December – 5 January

https://www.thebloomsbury.com/event / 020 3108 1000

Listings

December

Wednesday 12 7pm

Thursday 13 and Friday 14 10.30am & 1.30pm

Saturday 15 2.30pm & 6.30pm

Sunday 16 11am & 2.30pm

Tuesday 18 – Thursday 20 10.30am & 1.30pm

Friday 21 and Saturday 22 10.30am & 7pm

Sunday 23 and Monday 24 11am & 2.30pm

Wednesday 26 – Saturday 29 2.30pm & 6.30pm

Sunday 30 11am & 2.30pm

Monday 31 2.30pm

January

Wednesday 2 – Friday 4 2.30pm & 7pm

Saturday 5 2.30pm & 6.30pm

Sunday 6 11am & 2.30pm

Lucy O'Shea

I was given a copy of Philosopher's Stone in 2001, and instantly, I was hooked. Since then, my passion for Potter has been equaled only by my passion for fair access to education (and watching motorsport). A spell I wish could exist in the Muggle world is the summoning charm because this Hufflepuff is not a "particularly good finder"!