Theatre Review: Awful Auntie at The Alhambra

In celebration of their 25th anniversary The Birmingham Stage Company bring their new adaptation of David Walliams’ Awful Auntie on tour, stopping at The Alhambra where Leo Owen caught the show

Neal Foster’s lively adaptation of Walliams’ children’s novel quaintly opens with black and white video footage documenting English historic houses. One of the properties mentioned is the lesser-known Saxby Hall where the story takes place. Here our heroine, Stella Saxby (Georgina Leonidas), wakes fully bandaged to discover her parents have died in a car accident, leaving her in the care of her plotting Aunt Alberta (Richard James).

Twelve, nearly thirteen, Stella’s escape plan moves from adult actors to miniature puppets to provide perspective and allow an aerial capture. Locked in a coal shed, Stella meets helpful child ghost, Soot (Ashley Cousins), whose unlucky demise is prompted by a move from the workhouse to a short career as a chimney sweep. Now suspecting foul play, it is up to Stella to uncover the truth in the style of her favourite detective sleuth, Sherlock Holmes.

Director and adapter Foster, has previously successfully adapted stage shows of the Horrible Histories and Walliams’ Gangsta Granny, so it is no surprise Awful Auntie remains true to source material, especially considering Walliams attended rehearsals.

The opening sequence feels almost filmic as we zoom into Stella’s window. Here she is first being held captive, only to wake after months from her coma to all the bones in her body broken and the disgusting revelation she has been receiving her daily nutrients from a giant owl called Wagner (Roberta Bellekom) regurgitating chomped food directly into her mouth.

Designed by Sue Dacre, Wagner’s puppet is one of the show’s strength unlike the Cockney rhyming slang of Soot delivered in an oddly irritatingly high-pitched voice. Elderly man servant, Gibbon (Richard James), provides some, at times, rather surreal comic relief, that undoubtedly delights little ones. Meanwhile Foster’s titular character bizarrely speaks like League of Gentleman’s Tubb’s.

Designer Jacqueline Trousdale overcomes the challenge of the story constantly moving through a vast ancestral home with wheeling tower turrets and atmospheric wind effects to give a sense of space. Her giant snow owl is a real high point.

If the inclusion of Sir Quentin Blake’s illustrations in the programme aren’t evidence enough then Walliams’ Dahl like caricatures, villainous adult characters and the inclusion of his protagonist’s bleak surroundings/living conditions are clear testimony to his influences. Revenge plans for Roberta are enough to delight Dahl fans while blatant references to The Shining will tickle accompanying adults.

Thriller, horror and comedy, Awful Auntie perfectly matches its target audience, tellingly concluding with the whimsical reflection, “When you are a child, you can see all the magic in the world”. Like the Easter story, Walliams’ tale has a clear moral and is the perfect way to kick off the holiday.