Birmingham Stage Company's Production of David Walliams' GANGSTA GRANNY Makes West End Debut
By: Liz Cearns Sep. 26, 2016
It's Friday night and Ben knows that means only one thing - staying with Granny! There will be cabbage soup, cabbage pie and cabbage cake and Ben knows one thing for sure - it's going to be sooooooooo boring! But what Ben doesn't know is that Granny has a secret - and Friday nights are about to get more exciting than he could ever imagine, as he embarks on the adventure of a lifetime with his very own Gangsta Granny!
David Walliams said today "I'm delighted that my Gangsta Granny is making her West End debut. It's my most popular book so it will be wonderful to see the Birmingham Stage Company's terrific adaptation in dazzling neon next summer."
David Walliams is fast becoming a global phenomenon in the world of children's literature - his ability to wow fans is unprecedented with global sales over 14.1 million. His most recent fiction title, The World's Worst Children, published on 19th May 2016 sold over 340,000 copies in the UK alone. It went straight to No. 1 on release where it stayed for 4 weeks and also concurred Children's Books charts, where it stayed at No.1 for 7 weeks. Internationally sales continue to thrive, The World's Worst Children also went straight to No. 1 in the Australian children's chart and remained there for three consecutive weeks and reached the No. 1 in the overall book chart in New Zealand. This follows on from the success of Gangsta Granny, Grandpa's Great Escape, Awful Auntie, Demon Dentist and Ratburger. All went straight to Children's number one on release with Gangsta Granny and Billionaire Boy both selling over a million copies to date. Gangsta Granny, Mr Stink, The Boy in the Dress and Billionaire Boy have all been adapted into TV comedy dramas. In addition to Gangsta Granny, his books Mr Stink, Ratburger and The First Hippo on the Moon have all been made into theatre productions. As well as his Children's fiction, David has also published four number one bestselling picture books, his latest, The Bear Who went Boo! was published in November 2015 and has had total sales of over 85,000 to date. The Queen's Orang-utan, David's third picture book was written exclusively for Comic Relief with David giving all of his proceeds from the book to the charity. Added to all this, David's books have achieved unprecedented critical acclaim: Awful Auntie, Ratburger and Demon Dentist won the National Book Awards Children's Book of the Year and in France David was awarded the popular Tamtam for Mr Stink and the prestigious Le Prix Du Livre De La Jeunesse for Ratburger, so it comes as no surprise that countless broadsheet reviewers have compared David to his all-time hero, Roald Dahl. As a brand, The World of David Walliams continues to grow: export sales have increased by 77% year on year with growth in every single market and David's books are published in over 49 languages. As well as being a No.1 best-selling Children's author, David Walliams is one of Britain's most popular writers and comic actors. Little Britain, which he co-created with Matt Lucas, started on Radio 4 and soon progressed to BBC1. The show has won numerous international awards including three BAFTAs, and now plays in over 100 countries. Little Britain Live performed to a million people in the UK, Ireland and Australia. David and Matt followed Little Britain with the hugely popular spoof airport documentary series Come Fly With Me. David has proved himself as a dramatic actor in BBC2's Capturing Mary with Dame Maggie Smith, in BBC1's Agatha Christie series Partners In Crime, as Frankie Howerd in the biopic Rather You Than Me for BBC4, and on the stage in Harold Pinter's No Man's Land starring alongside Sir Michael Gambon. He received the Comedy Award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for his performance as Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream directed by Michael Grandage. His film credits also include The Look of Love, directed by Michael Winterbottom, Great Expectations directed by Mike Newell, Dinner For Schmucks with Steve Carell and Paul Rudd and directed by Jay Roach, Run Fat Boy Run directed by David Schwimmer and starring Simon Pegg, and Stardust directed by Matthew Vaughn. Currently David is writing a screenplay for Dreamworks Animation with the director Edgar Wright. Since 2012 David has appeared as himself as a judge alongside Simon Cowell on one of the biggest shows on TV, Britain's Got Talent.
Neal Foster is the adapter and director of the show. He is also Actor/Manager of The Birmingham Stage Company. Since its foundation the BSC has staged over eighty productions and become one of the world's leading producers of theatre for children and their families. During the BSC's twenty-four year history, Foster has performed acting roles including Grandma in George's Marvellous Medicine in Dubai, the title role in Skellig at The New Victory Theatre, New York and Rex in Barmy Britain at the Garrick Theatre and Sydney Opera House. In addition to Gangsta Granny, as a director his work includes Fantastic Mr Fox, Tom's Midnight Garden, The Jungle Book (all national tours) and Barmy Britain - Part One! Two! and Three! (Garrick Theatre) and The Best of Barmy Britain (Apollo Theatre) all of which he co-wrote with Terry Deary.
Gangsta Granny is adapted and directed by Neal Foster, design is by Jackie Trousdale, lighting by Jason Taylor, sound by Nick Sagar, music by Jak Poore and choreography by Paul Chantry & Rae Piper of Chantry Dance Company.
Gangsta Granny live has been created by Neal Foster and The Birmingham Stage Company. In addition to this, BSC has been touring Horrible Histories Live on Stage for eleven years throughout the UK, Ireland, Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. Other Current Productions include the centenary tour of George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl.
Gangsta Granny is suitable for ages 5 +
Twitter: @_GangstaGranny
Facebook: birminghamstage
Gangsta Granny Listings
Garrick Theatre
2 Charing Cross Rd, London WC2H 0HH
Box Office: 0330 333 4809
Ticket prices: £49.50, £39.50, £29.50, £19.50
Booking fees apply for all on-line and phone bookings, and all tickets include a 50p restoration levy
There are no booking fees for tickets purchased in person at the theatre
26 July 2017 - 3 September 2017
Press performances: 1 August 2:30pm & 7pm
Running time: 2 hr 15 including interval
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