Julia Donaldson News

Oldham Coliseum Theatre today announced its programme for Spring and Summer 2022. The season includes a world premiere, a modern adaptation of a children's classic, two tours based on true stories and hard-hitting drama from across the pond.

Zog and his crew are flying back to the stage with a brand-new adventure next month! Based on the bestselling sequel by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Zog and the Flying Doctors will premiere at Rose Theatre, Kingston from Thursday 10 to Saturday 19 February 2022 prior to a Spring/Summer UK Tour.

This season, the Belgrade Theatre hosts a fantastic range of shows for children of all ages. Little ones can take a stroll through the deep, dark wood with The Gruffalo, and enjoy magical puppetry with Oi Frog and Friends! Live on Stage. There's something for older ones too, with brand new stage adaptations of George Orwell's Animal Farm and Michael Morpurgo's Private Peaceful.

Elf The Musical is a jolly fun, heartwarming holiday tale for the whole family. Poteet Theatre inside St. Luke's United Methodist Church presents this musical on their cozy stage in downtown Oklahoma City. Buddy Hobbs grows up at the North Pole, and soon discovers he's not one of Santa's elves at all, but a human with a real dad and brother in NYC.

Kicking off the new year, and following a hugely successful run at Little Angel Theatre in 2018, a UK Tour in 2019 and a new run at Polka, The Singing Mermaid, a Little Angel Theatre and Royal & Derngate, Northampton co-production, by Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks and adapted by Samantha Lane and Barb Jungr will run at Little Angel Theatre from 25 February to 24 April 2022.

The Southbank Centre's Imagine Children's Festival returns 9 - 20 February 2022 to provide the very best in children's theatre, comedy, family parties, hands-on activities, music, literature, dance, immersive experiences, relaxed mindfulness sessions and full-on fun for children and their grownups in the February half term.

A new out-of-this-world story by the creators of The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom is being transformed into a family play and it is landing at Parr Hall in March.

Following its Housewarming programme - open hearted work that celebrated connection and community, This is Now invites artists and audiences to join a yearlong conversation about who we are and who we want to be; to think deeply about the important questions of our time, and to find refuge in coming together to imagine our way through the world we live in, right now.

The New Victory Theater announced today that five productions for kids age 3 to 8 are now available to stream as part of their 2021-22 virtual season: Erth’s Prehistoric World (Sydney Opera House), Doodle POP (BRUSH Theatre, Seoul), The Snail and the Whale (Tall Stories, London), and Anansi the Spider Re-spun and Huddle (Unicorn Theatre, London).

Following a critically acclaimed run at Little Angel Theatre over the summer, producers Fierylight and Little Angel Theatre are delighted to announce a UK tour of The Smartest Giant in Town which will commence on 9 February and continue through to May 2022.

Fun family musical What the Ladybird Heard is opening this week at Lyceum Theatre Sheffield. This fun farmyard frolic is based on the popular children’s book by The Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson.

After sell-out seasons across the world, including London's West End and Broadway The Gruffalo returns to Adelaide for 11 performances from 8 to 12 December. Then from 14 to 16 December Andy Griffiths' best seller, The 13-Storey Treehouse returns to Adelaide for the first time since 2014 for 8 performances. CDP will complete this 'family trifecta' with the Adelaide premiere of Guess How Much I Love You.

Leicester's Curve theatre will ensure a magical festive season this year by partnering with Charity Link to offer free tickets to its family Christmas production.

The much-loved stage adaptation of What the Ladybird Heard, from bestselling children’s author Julia Donaldson and award-winning illustrator Lydia Monks, will arrive in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 24 November.

What starts off as a morning jog becomes quite the misadventure for Stick Man: a dog wants to play fetch with him, a swan builds a nest with him, and he even ends up on a fire! How will Stick Man ever get back to the family tree?

David Sefton, Director of Culture and Creative Projects at Gulbenkian Arts Centre said, “I'm proud and excited to bring you my first year's programme at the Gulbenkian. There are lots of changes and lots to get excited about.

Freckle Productions have announced that Stick Man, based on the book by Julia Donaldson with illustrations by Axel Scheffler, will return to the stage this Autumn and Winter with more dates than you can shake a stick at!

Anyone looking forward to getting back in to theatres should look no further than Theatre Royal Winchester, which has an exciting season ahead this autumn. From the end of the month through to December the theatre has a varied programme of music, drama, family shows, comedy, and more, with these as a few highlights…

Zog and the Flying Doctors follows their smash-hit adaptation of Zog (on tour now) and reunites director Emma Kilbey and composer and lyricist Joe Stilgoe for this truly modern take on the classic fairy tale.

Large in size and keen in nature, Zog is eager to win a golden star at Madam Dragon’s school, where dragons learn all the things that dragons need to know. Zog tries so very hard, perhaps too hard, and he bumps, burns and roars his way through years one, two and three.