Benji’s homecoming show will be special
Benji Davies - best known as the author and illustrator of children’s book The Storm Whale - aspired to be a professional writer from when he was a creative child at Longthorpe Primary School.
Now hundreds of thousands of copies of his books have been sold across the world - and a stage production of one of them will come to The Key Theatre in April.
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Hide AdThe production of Grandad’s Island will take place on April 28 and April 29.
Benji - who was also a pupil at Jack Hunt School - said: “I wrote the book four years ago - and a couple of years later Matt Aston - who is the director of the show - got in touch saying he wanted to turn it into a stage show.
“It was the first interest I had in terms of theatre - it was quite exciting getting that email.
“The first show was put on in York last year. I went to see it - you never know how it will look through someone else’s eyes, but it was a fantastic version. The actors are brilliant, and the vision from the crew is fantastic.
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Hide Ad“I have seen the show twice, and I will be in Peterborough to see it. I think it will be a bit more special to see it in Peterborough. A lot of my family still live there, and it will have a real homecoming feeling.”
Benji’s first book, The Storm Whale, was published in 2013 - with his most recent, Tad, released earlier this month.
Benji said his inspiration for his stories came from his own experiences, starting in Peterborough at Longthorpe School.
He said: “I always loved books, and loved illustrated books. I spent a lot of time reading and drawing - any project I would do had to have some sort of drawing in it.
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Hide Ad“I went to university and studied animation, and the drawings for my books came from there.
“I have always been quite single minded. I had in mind from a young age that I wanted to spend my days drawing.
“My sixth book, Tad, came out a couple of weeks ago. It is the story of a tadpole turning into a frog.”
Benji’s books have been a hit across the world - and he said he still gets a buzz from seeing people read them. He said: “My daughter is two, and I saw her with one of my books, which was a wonderful feeling.
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Hide Ad“Last year I had a trip to Spain. My books have been published in 35 languages. I was sitting there signing books in Spanish when I can’t even speak the language. It was a moment that really make me think.”
For details about the production of Grandad’s Island visit vivacity.org/whatson/theatre-and-arts/grandads-island-by-benji-davies/