Wonder Boy is a heartwarming story of a 12-year-old boy’s journey to overcome a stammer. Winner of Writers’ Guild Award for Best Play 2023, written by Ross Willis (Wolfie) and directed by the Olivier-award winning Sally Cookson (A Monster Calls) is coming to Liverpool Playhouse from Wednesday 25 September to Saturday 28 September.
Wonder Boy is an inspiring story about the power of communication told through the experiences of 12-year-old Sonny who stammers and has to find his way in a world ruled by vicious vowels, confusing consonants and the biggest beast of them all – small talk.
LAMDA graduates Hilson Agbangbe who plays Sonny, and Naia Elliott-Spence, who plays Roshi are making their professional theatre debut. Ciaran O’Breen (Lord of The Flies, Leeds Playhouse/Belgrade Theatre Coventry/Rose Theatre Kingston and Can Bears Ski?, Deafinitely Theatre/Pied Piper Theatre) plays Captain Chatter, joined by Eva Scott (Fool Me Once, Netflix; EastEnders, BBC; Work It Out, HOME Manchester and Betty!: A Sort of Musical, Royal Exchange Theatre) as Wainwright, and Jessica Murrain (As You Like It, Globe Theatre and King Lear, West End) as Sonny’s Mum/Fish, along with understudies Samir Mahat, Matt Lim, Hannah Balogun and Meg Matthews.
This production is packed with playful humour, dazzling visuals by set and costume designer Katie Sykes, and thrilling original music by composer Benji Bower. All performances include live creative captioning on stage throughout, designed by Tom Newell of the award-winning Limbic Cinema.
Sally Cookson, the director of Wonder Boy said:
“The play is about what happens when a person communicates differently and the challenges they face when fluent speech is the expected societal norm. It felt entirely natural to include Creative Captions as part of the overall design of the show to tap into the major theme of communication. Creative Captioning involves incorporating the entire text into the world of the play. We don’t just display the words on a small digital strip positioned either to the left or right of the stage, we ensure that all the words spoken are visually central to the piece.”
Catherine Woolley, Children and Families Programme Lead from STAMMA (the largest UK charity and membership organisation representing people who stammer) added:
“While the play tackles some complex and at times emotionally challenging concepts, it does so with a masterful blend of light and shade. Wonder Boy will make you laugh. It might make you cry. It will definitely make you think. Most importantly, it highlights that communicating confidently, not being fluent, is the real success.”
Sally Cookson is the co-founder of the Bristol Old Vic Youth theatre. She has received four Olivier nominations for Peter Pan (National Theatre/Bristol Old Vic); Hetty Feather (Kenny Wax Productions); Cinderella a Fairytale (Tobacco Factory Theatre) and A Monster Calls (Old Vic London) which won Best Family and Entertainment in 2019. The creative team also includes Aideen Malone (lighting designer), Jonathan Everett (sound designer), Laila Diallo (movement director), Mary Sutherland (associate director), Claire Llewellyn (fight director), Sophia Khan (costume and wigs supervisor), Annelie Powell (casting director) and BSL consultant David Ellington.
Access performances including BSL, Audio Description and relaxed performances will be available for this show. Creative captioning will be used at all performances. Tickets priced from £11 to £31 are available at www.everymanplayhouse.com/whats-on/wonder-boy
