WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT LIVE ON STAGE Announces Full Cast For 10th Anniversary West End Run

We're Going on a Bear Hunt announces full cast for the smash-hit production which returns to the West End at Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue from 4 July, ten years after its first UK tour. Benjamin Hills (Dog/Musician), Rebecca Newman (Girl) and Thos Wainwright (Dad) return to the cast and they will be joined by Joey Hickman (Boy).

Music, laughter, rhymes, rhythms and repetitions together with puppetry, paint, water and mud... not to mention a bear - we're not scared! - make this fun-filled adventure the perfect theatrical outing for all young families.

Sally Cookson's hugely inventive production, set to Benji Bower's lively musical score, is a mischievous celebration of play, utilising everyday objects and materials to capture the imagination and propel audiences into the world of Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury's much loved picture book.

Join our intrepid family of adventurers and their musical dog as they wade through the swishy swashy grass, the splishy splashy river and the oozy squelchy mud, in search of a bear. Expect plenty of interaction and a few surprises along the way.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt is an action-packed treat for those who love the book and the ideal theatrical experience for first time theatregoers.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt is presented by Kenny Wax Family Entertainment and is created by the critically acclaimed production team including director Sally Cookson, composer Benji Bower, designer Katie Sykes, lighting designer Tony Simpson, sound designer Jason Barnes, associate director and puppet designer Marc Parrett.

Sally Cookson - Director and Adapter. Cookson's most recent theatre work is A Monster Calls, an Old Vic production in association with Bristol Old Vic. For Kenny Wax her credits include La Strada and Hetty Feather (Olivier Award nominated). For the National Theatre her credits include Jane Eyre, Peter Pan (both co-productions with Bristol Old Vic). She is an Associate Artist at Bristol Old Vic, where her productions include Jane Eyre, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Treasure Island, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Papa Please Get the Moon for Me, Clown, Strange Case, Pericles, Pains of Youth, The Visit. Her numerous collaborations with Travelling Light theatre include Strictly Balti, The Ugly Duckling, Boing!, How Cold My Toes, Shadowplay, Cloudland, Lenny, Bob the Man on the Moon. For Tobacco Factory her credits include One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Cinderella - A Fairy-tale (Olivier Award nominated). Other theatre includes The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Romeo and Juliet (Rose Theatre Kingston), Stick Man and Tiddler and other Terrific Tales (Scamp Theatre).

Joey Hickman plays Boy. His acting credits for theatre include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Oliver! (Watermill Theatre), Reasons To Be Cheerful, The Threepenny Opera (UK tour), Cinderella: A Fairytale, Romeo & Juliet, The School for Scandal (Tobacco Factory), Made in Dagenham (The Queen's Theatre/New Wolsey Theatre), Thisbe (Door Ajar Theatre), The BFG (Birmingham Rep), I Was A Rat! (Birmingham Rep/UK tour), Dreamboats and Petticoats (Playhouse Theatre). As a Musical Director, Composer and Arranger his credits include The Comedy About A Bank Robbery (Criterion Theatre), Three Minute Heroes (Belgrade Theatre) and Our House (New Wolsey Theatre/UK tour).

Benjamin Hills returns to the company to play Dog/Musician. He recently appeared on ITV's Britain's Got Talent, receiving four 'yes' votes from the judges in the first round.

Rebecca Newman returns to play Girl. Her theatre credits include Peter Pan (Sherman Theatre), Burning Books (Curve), Romeo and Juliet (Black Rat Productions) and Macbeth (Insane Root Theatre).

Thos Wainwright returns to play Dad. His theatre credits include Custody (Ovalhouse Theatre), Clara and Rosa (Theatre Royal Bath), Noisy Nativity (Tobacco Factory), I Am The Walrus (Young Vic), Banksy: The Room In The Elephant (UK tour), Come To Where I'm From (Paines Plough), Pedestrian, Jesus Christ It's Christmas (Bristol Old Vic) and Muscle (Hull Truck/Bristol Old Vic).

Kenny Wax Family Entertainment brings family theatre into the West End, throughout the UK and worldwide. Productions include We're Going on a Bear Hunt, What the Ladybird Heard, Mr Popper's Penguins (UK and international tour), the Olivier Award nominated Hetty Feather and Around the World in 80 Days. They also general manage Tall Stories' productions of The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child and Room on the Broom in the UK.
Kenny Wax is currently co-producing productions of The Play That Goes Wrong in the West End (Olivier Award Winner - Best New Comedy), on Broadway (Tony Award and Drama Desk Award Winner 2017), and in Australia, as well as on tour in the UK, where the show continues to play to sell out audiences. Other productions include the stage adaptation of Fellini's La Strada, Top Hat, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, the West End production of The Comedy about a Bank Robbery at the Criterion Theatre, Mischief Movie Night and Six at the Arts Theatre. Kenny Wax was recently appointed President of the Society of London Theatre.

Illustrations © 1989 Helen Oxenbury. Licensed by Walker Books Ltd. London

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