SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON Comes to The Core at Corby Cube

Award-winning comedy theatre company New Old Friends brings a brand new adaptation of the classic children's story, Swiss Family Robinson, to the stage for Christmas 2019. Directed by James Farrell, this high-octane production transports audiences to a remote desert island, where the shipwrecked family, dog included, must use ingenuity, inventiveness and intrigue to survive in their new environment and make friends with the creatures great and small they share it with. As the Robinsons battle against time to find shelter, food and safety, they discover some of their new neighbours are friendlier than others.

Suitable for ages 6 and over, this family show employs New Old Friends' trademark blend of creativity, humour and hijinks to tell a story beloved of generation after generation. Performed by a hard-working team of four, this colourful and energetic staging promises to banish the winter blues with gags, catchy songs, adorable puppets and memorable wordplay. The design of the show will feature a number of Heath Robinson or Rube Goldberg style machines - the sort of delightful contraptions you might see in Wallace & Gromit or the classic board-game Mousetrap. It also provides Corby audiences with a quirky alternative to the traditional fairytale-based Christmas shows and pantomimes.

Free craft activities will be running before every family performance where little ones and their families can make an adorable sock-puppet penguin, a boat to set sail in and write a desert island style letter to Father Christmas.

The Swiss Family Robinson was written by Johann David Wyss and first published as a novel in 1812. It tells the story of a Swiss family of six who are shipwrecked en route to Australia but manage to make it to a tropical island. Once there, they set about finding food, making a home and learning to live in the new terrain. A perennially popular tale, the original story has been adapted multiple times for television and as a feature film, including a 1960s film by Disney. It's also spawned comic books, computer games and several sequels.

Heather from New Old Friends said, "We are so excited to be making this show. It is a story and concept we have had for a while, so are thrilled to have found the perfect partner(s) in The Core at Corby Cube to create it and then the support of Imagine Theatre and The Albany in Coventry to give it future life. The story is a real feel-good family tale of overcoming adversity and the joy of togetherness, which feels perfect for Christmas. What we are bringing to that, is hopefully some theatrical magic; lots of jokes, songs and we couldn't be more excited about the ingenious machines that Fritz makes. If we get them right, they will be unlike anything else you have seen on stage before.".

New Old Friends are an award-winning theatre company dedicated to creating original comedy theatre, founded in 2008 and run by husband and wife team Feargus Woods Dunlop and Heather Westwell. In 2017 and 2018 the company were awarded the Creative Bath Award for writing. Previous shows include five installments of the hugely popular Crimes... series of comedy thrillers, including 2019's spring hit Crimes on the Nile. In summer 2019, their adaptation of Anthony Horowitz' The Falcon's Malteser enjoyed a six-week run at London's Vaults Theatre. It was selected as a 'Critic's Choice' for 'Best Family Shows' by the Guardian.

James Farrell is a theatre director who has previously worked on West End productions of Goodnight Mister Tom and The 39 Steps, and with the Royal Shakespeare Company. No stranger to comedy, James has also directed the cycling Shakespeare company The Handlebards on multiple occasions. In Spring 2018, he worked with New Old Friends on their celebrated comedy thriller Crimes Under the Sun, the company's helter-skelter homage to Agatha Christie, Noel Coward and others.

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