Young Company Stages World Premiere of Mal Peet Novella THE FAMILY TREE

The Northcott Young Company (NYC) is to stage a world premiere of a celebrated book about a family torn apart by a father's descent into mental illness.

Senior members of The Youth Theatre company - around 60 actors aged between 9 and 16 - are preparing the first dramatization of Mal Peet's heart-rending novella, The Family Tree,

The new production is the result of an intensive nine-day residency by NYC and was created with the blessing and support of Mal's widow, Elspeth Graham-Peet.

The play, which combines the narrative of the original text with stylised explorations of the themes of the novel, is the third in a trilogy of thought-provoking NYC productions inspired by literary themes and tackling important issues.

It follows an environmentally-themed adaptation of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner in 2017 and last year's "fake news" interpretation of W H Auden's famous poem, 1 September 1939.

The powerful story by the Carnegie Medal-winning author, who died in 2015, tells of a father who builds a tree-house for his son - the Nest - when the family move into a new home.

Everything starts to go wrong when the father suffers a breakdown and takes refuge among the treetops.

Elspeth Graham-Peet said: "I'm delighted that the NYC have chosen Mal's The Family Tree to work with and perform this year.

"Mal really felt that this particular story could work so well as a TV or stage play - I can't wait to see it performed!"

The novella was illustrated by Greenaway-longlisted artist Emma Shoard and published in 2018 by Barrington Stoke.

To mark the first stage adaptation, Emma will create a giant mural on the outside of the Northcott inspired by the original artwork.

The Young Company was relaunched in 2017 after several years without any children's theatre and has now grown to three Saturday groups as well as week-long residencies throughout the year.

The groups give aspiring actors a taste of professional theatre - but the philosophy of a caring collective runs much deeper than useful stage skills.

NYC explore issues such as mental health, childhood experiences of the adult world, and how nostalgia can get in the way of the truth.

Local actor and director Conor Magee has adapted the story for the stage and will co-direct alongside the Northcott's Creative Learning Manager Lisa Hudson.

The four principal actors started rehearsals in August and will be joined by the full company for the final two weeks.

Lisa Hudson said the story was incredibly powerful and a perfect subject for the young actors to explore.

"We are very excited to be able to transfer this wonderful story to the stage, a production that will see 26 young people making decisions together, considering other people and their needs.

"It is a very adult story though it presents as a picture book and they will all understand it on different levels. The 12-year-old will be accessing those issues on a very different level to the 16-year-olds - everybody has to be generous with each other and that's a fantastic life skill to learn.

"Exploring issues such as mental health within families makes those young people more emotionally literate. That's for me the most important thing that drama does: it makes people understand the world and therefore different people in a way they wouldn't without theatre. My drama has always been issue-based, about empathy, walking around in other people's shoes.

"This is what we promote - our philosophy - we enable young people to understand the world and themselves better. It might sound incredibly hippyish...it is not what some other theatres do - and there is place for all of them - but that is where we come from."

The show runs on 30 - 31 August in the main auditorium. Tickets are priced at £7 and available from the Box Office on 01392 726 363 or at www.exeter.northcott.co.uk

Photo Credit: Tim Cuff

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