A new puppet-infested production
adapted by Toby Olié
From the original graphic novel
written by Neil Gaiman illustrated by Dave McKean
A Little Angel Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and York Theatre Royal co-production
When Lucy hears noises from behind the walls, she tries to warn her family that there are wolves lurking inside their house, but her family doesn’t believe her. Then one day, Lucy’s fears come true when a pack of wolves comes bursting out of the walls, forcing Lucy and her family to live at the bottom of the garden. But the story is far from over – Lucy must gather her courage, as her battle against the wolves is only just beginning.
Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s spooky and hilarious tale now comes to thrilling theatrical life in this frenzy of puppetry, songs, and shadow-play directed by Toby Olié andfeaturing original songs by Adam Pleeth and Carl Grose.
Suitable for brave children over 6 and scared adults
Running time is approximately 1 hour
#WolvesInTheWalls
A new puppet-infested production
adapted by Toby Olié
From the original graphic novel
written by
Neil Gaiman
illustrated by
Dave McKean
A Little Angel Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and York Theatre Royal co-production
When Lucy hears noises from behind the walls, she tries to warn her family that there are wolves lurking inside their house, but her family doesn’t believe her. Then one day, Lucy’s fears come true when a pack of wolves comes bursting out of the walls, forcing Lucy and her family to live at the bottom of the garden. But the story is far from over – Lucy must gather her courage, as her battle against the wolves is only just beginning.
First published in 2003, Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s spooky and hilarious tale now comes to thrilling theatrical life in this frenzy of puppetry, songs, and shadow-play. Directed by Toby Olié and featuring original songs by Adam Pleeth and Carl Grose, the show will have its world premiere in February before touring the UK in the spring.
Suitable for brave children over 7 and scared adults
Running time is approximately 1 hour
#WolvesInTheWalls
TOUR DATES
GALLERY
Photography © Dan Tsantilis
CAST
Katie Haygarth
Lucy
Elisa De Grey
Mum
Michael Fowkes
Dad
Matthew Churcher
Brother
Ailsa
Dalling
Lucy (alternate)
CREATIVE TEAM
Neil Gaiman
Writer
Dave McKean
Illustrator
Toby Olié
Director & Designer
Adam Pleeth
Composer
Carl Grose
Lyrics
Matt Daw
Lighting Designer
Daisy Beattie
Associate Designer & Puppet Supervisor
Little Angel Theatre
Producer
Bristol Old Vic
Producer
York Theatre Royal
Producer
Photo by Beowulf Sheehan
Neil Gaiman
Writer
Neil is the bestselling author and creator of books, graphic novels, short stories, film and television for all ages, including Norse Mythology, Neverwhere, Coraline, The Graveyard Book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, The View from the Cheap Seats, and the Sandman comic series.
His fiction has received Newbery, Carnegie, Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Will Eisner Awards. Gaiman was the writer and show-runner for the Emmy-nominated mini-series adaptation of Good Omens, based on the book he co-authored with Sir Terry Pratchett; his novel American Gods, has also been adapted to a critically acclaimed, Emmy-nominated TV series.
In addition to winning a BAFTA for Best Animated Film for the movie adaptation, Coraline has also been an Off-Broadway musical and an opera, which premiered at the Barbican Centre. The National Theatre of Scotland previously adapted Wolves in the Walls into an acclaimed musical stage production.
In 2017, he became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Originally from England, he spends much of the time in the US where he is a Professor in the Arts at Bard College.
Dave McKean
Illustrator
Dave has illustrated and designed over eighty award winning and ground breaking books and graphic novels including The Magic of Reality (Richard Dawkins), The Homecoming (Ray Bradbury), The Fat Duck Cookbook and Historic Heston (Heston Blumenthal), What’s Welsh for Zen (John Cale), Varjak Paw and Phoenix (SF Said), The Savage, Slog’s Dad and Joe Quinn’s Poltergeist (David Almond), Arkham Asylum (Grant Morrison), Night Shift (Stephen King), and Mr. Punch, Signal to Noise, Coraline and The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman).
He has written and illustrated Cages, two Pictures That Tick volumes of short stories, an erotic novel Celluloid, and Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash, a 14-18 Now Foundation commission. The multimedia live performance of Black Dog was featured at Tate Britain and the Somme Memorial in Amiens.
Dave has directed five short films and three feature films, MirrorMask, Luna, and The Gospel of Us with Michael Sheen. He is currently editing his fourth feature Wolf’s Child, adapted from his own play for Wildworks Theatre Company.
He is currently working on self penned graphic novels Raptor and Caligari, and two books of drawings and paintings inspired by silent cinema.
Toby Olié
Director & Designer
Toby is a director, designer and puppeteer. He is also co-artistic director of Gyre & Gimble, a theatre company specialising in puppetry.
Work as director includes:Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons: A Reimagining (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Hartlepool Monkey (Gyre & Gimble, UK tour), The Elephantom (National Theatre/West End) and associate puppetry director of War Horse (West End).
Work as puppetry designer/director includes: Pinocchio, Peter Pan, The Light Princess and Hansel & Gretel (National Theatre), Don Quixote (RSC/West End), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Royal Ballet), The Wind in the Willows (Royal Opera House/West End), Disney’s new staging of The Little Mermaid (in Holland, Moscow & Tokyo), The Grinning Man (Bristol Old Vic/West End), Running Wild (Chichester Festival Theatre/Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre/UK tour), A Christmas Carol, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Firework-Maker’s Daughter and Peter Pan (Chichester Festival Theatre), Little Shop of Horrors (Manchester Royal Exchange) and Goodnight Mister Tom (West End/UK tour).
Work as a puppeteer includes: Hind of Joey in the original production of War Horse (National Theatre) before moving to Joey’s head for the subsequent West End transfer, Venus and Adonis (RSC), The Homeless Polar Bear (Greenpeace campaign film), Mongrels (BBC Three) and Angelo (Little Angel Theatre).
Adam Pleeth
Composer
Adam is a composer and musician who has worked across plays, musicals, dance and puppetry. As a composer, his works include The Elephantom (National Theatre & West End); The Sad Club (National Theatre Connections); James and the Giant Peach (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Pitcarn (Shakespeare’s Globe & Chichester Festival Theatre); This May Hurt a Bit (Out of Joint); Laika (Unicorn Theatre); The Hartlepool Monkey (Gyre & Gimble, UK tour); Ballad of the Burning Star (Theatre Ad Infinitum); Juana in a Million and Caucasian Chalk Circle (National Youth Theatre of Wales); Red Riding Hood and the Wolf (Little Angel Theatre) and The Adventures of Curious Ganz (Silent Tide/Little Angel Theatre) and Time Stands Still When I Think of You (The Place).
Photo by Simon Annand
Carl Grose
Lyrics
Carl Grose’s plays include Grand Guignol, Superstition Mountain, Gargantua, Horse Piss For Blood, The Kneebone Cadillac and 49 Donkeys Hanged. For the past twenty four years he has worked with the internationally acclaimed Kneehigh Theatre as both actor and writer, and is now co-artistic director. Writing for Kneehigh includes Tristan & Yseult, The Bacchae, Blast!, Cymbeline, Hansel & Gretel, The Wild Bride, Dead Dog In A Suitcase (and other love songs), The Tin Drum, based on the novel by Gunter Grass and, most recently, Ubu! a singalong satire. Other writing includes The Dark Philosophers and Never Try This At Home (Told By An Idiot), Oedipussy (Spymonkey), Wormy Close (Soho Theatre), Faust (Vesturport/Young Vic), The 13 Midnight Challenges of Angelus Diablo (RSC at Latitude) and The Hartlepool Monkey (Gyre & Gimble, UK tour). He also wrote the book for Bristol Old Vic’s hit musical The Grinning Man.
Matt Daw
Lighting Designer
Daisy Beattie
Associate Designer & Puppet Supervisor
Daisy is a puppet maker and puppeteer, her work includes: Puppet Supervisor/Maker for The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear, Pinocchio and Peter Pan (National Theatre) and The Four Seasons: A Reimagining (Shakespeare’s Globe). Puppet Maker for The Grinning Man (Bristol Old Vic/West End); Running Wild (Regent’s Park/UK Tour); Circus 1903 (world tour); Luzia (Cirque du Soleil); Dead Dog in a Suitcase (Kneehigh); A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings (Little Angel Theatre). Work as a Puppeteer includes: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (Netflix/Jim Henson Company); Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Lucasfilm) and Muppets Most Wanted (Walt Disney Pictures).
Katie Haygarth
Lucy
Katie graduated from LAMDA in 2010, and has since developed a passion for puppetry and theatre for young audiences.
Theatre credits include: Swiss Family Robinson (The Core, Corby Cube), The Very Hungry Caterpillar (West End, UK Tour & Dubai), Sarah and Duck (UK tour), Home for Christmas (The Garrick, Lichfield), Dear Father Christmas (The Oxford Playhouse), In The Night Garden Live (The O2 & UK Tour), Pygmalion (UK No1 tour), Small Talk (Greenwich Theatre), The Wizard Of Oz (National Theatre, Abu Dhabi), Pinocchio (Madinat Theatre, Dubai).
Television credits include: Jovis Bon Hovis – puppeteer (TBN UK, Sky), Mr Wroe’s Virgins (BBC), Where the Heart is (ITV).
Ailsa Dalling
Lucy (alternate)
Ailsa trained at the Curious School of Puppetry during its inaugural year in 2016. Since completing her training she has worked in theatre, film and television as a puppeteer and puppet maker.
Her theatre credits as a puppeteer/performer include, Toto in The Wizard of Oz (Leeds Playhouse), The Dancing Frog (Kneehigh), Angelina in Quentin Blake’s Angelo (Little Angel Theatre), The Adventures of Curious Ganz (Silent Tide), Venus and Adonis (Royal Shakespeare Company) and Theatre Ballads (Horse & Bamboo).
Elisa De Grey
Mum
Theatre credits include: Pinocchio and Christmas Carol (Citizens Theatre), Kite (The Wrong Crowd), Peter Pan (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons: A Reimagining (Shakespeare’s Globe), Running Wild (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre UK Tour), Goodnight Mr Tom (Chichester Festival Theatre/West End and UK Tour), Little Universe and Brilliant (Fevered Sleep), These Associations (Tino Sehgal), No Way Out (Southwark Playhouse), The Juniper Tree (Goat and Monkey Theatre Company), The Water Babies (Northern Broadsides), Gormenghast (David Glass Ensemble), Beyond Midnight (Trestle Theatre Company), Binari (Obviam Est), Macbeth (Conspirators of Pleasure) and Cinderella, Robin Hood and The Lottie Project (Polka Theatre).
TV credits include: The Lost World of Mitchell and Kenyon, Harbour Lights (BBC).
Michael Fowkes
Dad
Michael works within puppetry as a director and writer as well as a designer/maker and performer.
He has worked frequently with the the Little Angel Theatre, most recently performing in The Dong With A Luminous Nose and in 2017 he wrote, directed and designed Sleepyhead for the Little Angel’s Christmas season, followed by a national tour in 2018. Other Little Angel shows as a designer/maker include; Stuff and Nonsense, The Night Before Christmas and The Journey Home and as a performer; Angelo, The Giraffe, The Pelly and Me and Alice in Wonderland.
He is a frequent collaborator with Theatre-Rites, most recently on Big Up! and has also created work with the RSC, the Young Vic and Punchdrunk. International tours include The Winter’s Tale (RSC), Wild Swans (Young Vic) and Mojo (Theatre-Rites).
Television work includes Harry Hill’s TV Burp, The Mighty Boosh and Channel 4’s Comedy Lab. Film includes Muppets Most Wanted.
Matthew Churcher
Brother
Matthew graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama: BA Acting (Collaborative & Devised Theatre.)
His work in theatre includes: Tommy in Pippi Longstocking (Royal & Derngate), Skylights/Swordfish in Peter Pan (National Theatre), Simon in White Teeth (Kiln Theatre), George Wilson in The Great Gatsby (Guild of Misrule/Theatre Clwyd), Musician/Rev.Wood in Jane Eyre (National Theatre/Bristol Old Vic), Joey / Topthorn Hind in War Horse (New London / NT), Ignition: 60 Hugs (Frantic Assembly), All or Nothing (Rock ’n’ Roll Productions, UK Tour), Loaded (Out of Inc) and the Olivier Awards 2011 (ThickSkin).
Development workshops include: Angels in America, Love of Seven Dolls and The Rehearsal (NT Studio), Wonderland (Nottingham Playhouse), The Unreturning (Frantic Assembly), Jackie the Baboon and Boxset (Brunskill & Grimes) and The Emperor & The Nightingale (Blind Summit).
Short Films: Ken Loach’s Star Wars, Jamis Vu, Mr. S, Mute, A Tragedy, and The Intruder.
Matthew is also a professional drummer/percussionist and has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, BBC and toured both nationally and internationally.
Little Angel Theatre
Producer
Little Angel Theatre is a home for puppetry. Since its doors first opened in 1961 the theatre has been dedicated to creating and sharing inspiring stories. Puppetry is at the heart of this innovative theatre, from igniting the imaginations of the youngest minds to equipping tomorrow’s puppeteers with the tools they need to succeed. As well as an internationally recognised theatre with productions touring throughout the UK and across the globe, Little Angel Theatre also has its roots in Islington, and works with its local, diverse community to break down barriers to arts engagement so all can benefit and enjoy this remarkable art form.
Bristol Old Vic
Producer