Running Wild Tour (2017)
10 February – 10 June
By Michael Morpurgo
In an adaptation by Samuel Adamson
Originally produced by Regent’s Park Theatre and Chichester Festival Theatre
Our 2016 production of Michael Morpurgo’s Running Wild embarked on its first UK tour with Children’s Touring Partnership, from February through to June 2017.
For Will, going to Indonesia isn’t just another holiday with mum. It’s a new start, and the chance to ride an elephant called Oona.
But then the tsunami hit – and Oona charges into the jungle, with her young rider desperately clinging on.
This ‘brilliant, life affirming show’ (Radio Times), delighted audiences with imaginative puppetry and energetic staging. The tour launched at Chichester Festival Theatre, before visiting Coventry, Sheffield, High Wycombe, London, Blackpool, Leeds, Salford, Norwich, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Plymouth, Northampton, Canterbury and Wolverhampton.
The cast
Elisa de Grey
Oona (Trunk)

James Charlton
Oona (Head)

Michael Peters
Oona (Heart)

Wela Mbusi
Oona (Hind)

Romina Hytten
Mani (Head)

Fred Davis
Mani (Body)

Darcy Collins
Frank

Gareth Aled
Alternate Puppeteer

Scarlet Wilderink
Alternate Puppeteer

Kazeem Toisin Amore
Dad/Red Bandana

Liz Crowther
Grandma

Stephen Hoo
Mahout/Kaya/Nurse

Corinna Powlesland
Dr Geraldine

Jack Sandle
Mr Anthony

Balvinder Sopal
Mum/Samaritan

Jemima Bennett
Lilly
India Brown
Lilly
Annika Whiston
Lilly
Creative team
Timothy Sheader
Director

Dale Rooks
Director

Paul Wills
Set & Costume Designer

Rod Paton
Original Songs & Composition

Nick Powell
Sound Score

Georgina Lamb
Movement Director

James Whiteside
Lighting Designer

Nick Sagar
Sound Designer

Finn Caldwell & Toby Olié for Gyre & Gimble
Puppetry Designers & Directors

Jon Pashley
Associate Director

Laura Cubitt
Associate Puppet Director

Nick Powell & Louise Anna Duggan
Additional Music

Barbara Houseman
Voice & Text

Majella Hurley
Dialect Coach

Polly Jerrold
Casting Director

Jessica Ronane CDG
Original Casting Director for Regent's Park Open Air Theatre

Reviews
Daily Telegraph
“A WINNER. The puppetry is exquisite, with full-sized animals manipulated so they seem to breathe with documentary life.”
The Times
"A role-swapping, puppet-wielding cast…team together to offer vivid suggestions of both the danger and beauty of this tropical wilderness…REMARKABLE by its INVENTIVE, EVOCATIVE STAGING."