The stage adaptation of A Monster Calls is making its Scottish debut next week in Aberdeen.
Patrick Ness’s piercing novel is brought vividly to life in the Olivier Award-winning production by visionary director Sally Cookson, at His Majesty’s Theatre from 17-21 March.
The production will also play at the Edinburgh Playhouse from 7 April-11 April.
Thirteen-year-old Conor and his mum have managed just fine since his dad moved away. But now his mum is sick and not getting any better. His grandmother won’t stop interfering and the kids at school won’t look him in the eye. Then, one night, Conor is woken by something at his window. A monster has come walking. It’s come to tell Conor tales from when it walked before. And when it’s finished, Conor must tell his own story and face his deepest fears.
From the critically acclaimed bestseller, A Monster Calls offers a dazzling insight into love, life and healing. The book has sold over a million copies and garnered huge critical acclaim, including an unprecedented double win of the Carnegie and Greenaway Medals for outstanding children’s literature and illustration. A Monster Calls was winner of the 2019 Best Entertainment and Family Olivier Award.
Sally said: ‘For me, working on A Monster Calls was a dream come true. I worked with an actor called Sarah Goddard who had read the book when it just came out, and said I should read it. I went out and bought it and read it over the weekend in one hit, really, and I just had that visceral, instinctive gut feeling I had to get hold of the rights and make it into a piece of theatre. I did digging around, and found out they were unavailable.
‘I had that book in my bag for a year-and-a-half and would buy copies to give to people. Matthew Waters invited me to have a chat about devising a show for the Old Vic and showed me a list of the things he had rights to. At the top of the list was A Monster Calls. I got out of my bag and showed him my dog-eared copy and said, please let me do this. That’s how it all started. It was a serendipitous meeting, and I felt blessed to be given the opportunity to tell a very special story.
‘As soon as he said, we’re going, I was terrified, thinking how was I going to interpret this story on stage now the green light was on. But part of my job is to do that, and Patrick Ness was a very collaborative writer. How he had inherited the story was part of the cycle of passing the story on.
‘Siobhan Dowd, the original writer, died of breast cancer before she could realise the book but jotted down the idea for a young teenager who’s coping with a parent’s illness and is visited by a magical tree. Her publisher and agent felt the idea was so powerful and had to pass it on, so they gave it to Patrick Ness to develop into his own version, and now he’s passed on the baton to us, so it was a lovely collaboration. He came in during the early stages to make sure he was happy with what we were doing. It was helpful having him in the room asking questions.’
For those who don’t know the story, Sally said: ‘It’s a story about a young teenage boy who’s struggling to try and understand the chaos around him and the turmoil of his mother’s illness. It’s never mentioned in the book what she is suffering from, and it’s clearly some form of cancer, and the challenge for him is that nobody in the story will tell him the truth or speak honestly about what’s happening, so he buries his feelings deep down inside about what he’s feeling, and it becomes more and more poisonous. He’s visited by a magical, monstrous tree who entices and cajouls him to coming to an understanding and to speak the truth.
‘You will always get people comparing the stage and film version, but it was no use to me to watch the film, which was very successful, but I’m interested in the live experience. We don’t have CGI – I wanted to find a way of creating everything in front of the audience’s eyes and asking them to come with us on your journey of imagination into the young boy’s head.
‘The film’s helpful as it puts the story out there and people have heard of it, so here’s a chance to see a different version of it.’
Sally is looking forward to heading back to Scotland.
She explained: ‘I haven’t been to Aberdeen since I was an actor in the early 1990s, I’m ashamed to say, but it’s very exciting that the story is getting to reach a wider audience, especially as Kaye Brown, who plays Grandma, is from Aberdeen and looking forward to coming to her hometown.
‘It taps into how important it is for all of us, not just young people, to talk about our feelings, emotional intelligence and mental health, and this show is about having someone to talk to if you are disconcerted or upset. Young boys have this idea of having to appear in control and behave in a certain way, and if they show that they are feeling, they are regarded as weak. But it’s not just for young people, it’s for any age. One of the rewarding things is to see different ages in the audience sharing this story at the same time, and all getting something different out of it at the same time.’
The full cast includes Greg Bernstein (Harry), Kaye Brown (Grandma), Rafaella Covino, Ammar Duffus (Conor), Keith Gilmore (Monster), Jade Hackett (Sully), Cora Kirk (Lily), Kel Matsena (Anton), Maria Omakinwa (Mum), Sarah Quist (Miss Godfrey), Paul Sockett (Mr Marl), Ewan Wardrop (Dad) and Sam Wood.
A Monster Calls will be working with Kooth kooth.com, a free and anonymous online counselling and emotional wellbeing support service for children and young people available in many areas throughout the country.
This adaptation is suitable for ages 10+.
Tickets cost £35.50 – £23.50, and are on sale now from www.aberdeenperformingarts.com, phone (01224) 641122 or visit the box office at His Majesty’s Theatre, Music Hall or the Lemon Tree.
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