Julia Donaldson News

Olivier Award-winning theatre company Mischief Theatre are bringing their comedy masterpiece The Play That Goes Wrong to Australia for the first time from February next year.

This award-winning production is packed full of puppetry, songs, live music and funky moves... it is the perfect festive family entertainment!

Southbank Centre's Winter Festival supported by NatWest returns for the holiday season with a packed programme of festive fun and entertainment for all the family from performances including a new version of hit show BIANCO by UK's leading circus company NoFit State Circus, the Tony award-winning musical Million Dollar Quartet and cabaret sensation Le Gateau Chocolat's first ever work for children (and the young at heart) Duckie, to festive concerts, social dances, creative workshops, choirs and a weekend of events inspired by the theme of giving and charity. The 21 acre site is transformed into a winter landscape with a Nordic feel, designed by Hemingway Design, with a sky-high Norwegian tree, Nordic 'Gonks'- mythological Scandinavian creatures, hundreds of Christmas trees, walks of twinkling lights and the return of the bustling Winter Market.  Alternative treats are also on offer across the season including BUMP Rollerdisco and the return of the spectacular Vintage New Year's Eve Party. With the full programme on sale from today, Southbank Centre's Winter Festival programme is guaranteed to get everyone in the festive spirit this Christmas.

Currently enjoying its 15th anniversary at the Lyric Theatre, where it runs until 8 January, The Gruffalo Live returns to South Africa this December. The national tour follows on from a sell-out run at the Cape Town Fringe where the production made its debut this September. This also marked the first time Tall Stories' smash-hit production had been staged on the African continent. Having previously toured to over 500 venues across the globe, The Gruffalo Live first opened on 12 May 2001 at Chester Gateway theatre and since then has performed in 15 countries and 6 continents, played twice at the Sydney Opera House, twice on Broadway, once at the National Theatre and is now in its ninth West End season.

Get ready for a 'whale of a time' at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) this summer as the charming stage production, The Snail and the Whale comes to the Cremorne Theatre from Friday 6 to Sunday 22 January 2017 as part of the QPAC SummerSet program.

THE GRUFFALO seems to have done brisk business at the Cape Town Fringe and is sure to have a life on South African stages beyond this initial engagement, with an isiXhosa version already lined up for next year. It will be fascinating to see how this process of translation plays out as the next entry into this franchise's commodities is developed.

With John Malkovich's acclaimed production of Good Canary entering its final week, Rose Theatre Kingston today announces its new season for 2017.  Headlining the season is the world premiere of My Brilliant Friend, a two-part adaptation of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan quartet of novels which have become a global literary sensation.  The true identity of the author is a mystery, with Elena Ferrante a pseudonym used by the writer, but speculation over the weekend suggested that the author had been unmasked.  

The Cape Town Fringe returns to the Mother City from 22 September - 8 October this year, with a programme that runs into the school holidays as well as over three weekends. A host of family-friendly daytime and early evening shows will be performed, with at least four productions appealing to the tiniest of tykes on this year's line-up.

Best-selling children's author Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler's magical tale Room on the Broom will fly into Arts Centre Melbourne's Playhouse from 4 - 15 January 2017. UK theatre company Tall Stories and Australia's CDP Theatre Producers - the team behind the stage adaptations The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child - will bring to life the award-winning book in a play filled with songs, puppets, laughs and scary fun for children aged three and up and their grown-ups.

Author, Nancy Bromley, recognizes that the story of the Nativity has been retold in multiple forms for centuries. Inspired by the works of Jill Eggleton and Julia Donaldson, Bromley retells the Christmas story using elements of rhyme, repetition and prediction in 'Away in a Stable' (published by Trafford Publishing).

The National Arts Festival announced this week that it is producing the hit Tall Stories musical adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's award-winning picture book, THE GRUFFALO.

Struggling to fill the school holidays, and no luck getting Cursed Child tickets? Fear not - there are plenty of fantastic London theatre options for family audiences.

Scamp Theatre is proud to present their latest production, a truly heart-warming adaptation of The Scarecrows' Wedding, based on the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, playing in the West End at Leicester Square Theatre from tonight 9 July to Sunday 4 September 2016. There will be press performances on Friday 15 and Today 16 July at 2.00pm.

This July everyone's favourite furry monster roars back into the West End in celebration of his 15th anniversary on stage! Tall Stories' hugely popular production of The Gruffalo first opened on 12 May 2001 - just 18 months after the book was first published. The show returns to the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue from 6 July and has just extended through to 8 January 2017, forming a huge part of this year's West End calendar.

?Acclaimed children's author Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler's tale of The Snail and the Whale is coming to Arts Centre Melbourne's Playhouse stage from 29 June - 10 July. The production is the work of UK company Tall Stories, creators of the Gruffalo and Room on the Broom stage shows.

?The first Great Yorkshire Fringe was such a roaring success that it's coming back in July - and is promising to serve up even more of the very best comedians, music and family entertainment from all over the world in York's historic city centre.

? Fans of the much-loved children's books Snail and the Whale, Pete the Sheep and the May Gibbs' classic Snugglepot and Cuddlepie will be delighted when their favourite characters are brought to life as part of Arts Centre Melbourne's Winter and Spring Families program.

Scamp Theatre is proud to present their latest production, a truly heart-warming adaptation of The Scarecrows' Wedding, based on the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, playing in the West End at Leicester Square Theatre from Saturday 9 July to Sunday 4 September 2016. There will be press performances on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 July at 2.00pm.

?In association with the Citizens Theatre, joint Artistic Director of Vox Motus Candice Edmunds presents a new adaptation of August Strindberg's Dance of Death in the Citizens Theatre's Circle Studio next month from 22 April. Adapted by Frances Poet, designed by Graham McLaren and starring Tam Dean Burn, Lucianne McEvoy  and Andy Clarke, Dance of Death brings together some of the best creative talent in Scottish theatre.

This July everyone's favourite furry monster roars back into the West End in celebration of his 15th anniversary on stage! Tall Stories' smash hit production of The Gruffalo, which first opened on the 12 May 2001, 18 months after the book was first published, returns to the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue by popular demand from 6 July until 4 September 2016, forming a huge part of this summer's West End calendar.