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Life at The Little Theatre column: The Wolves return to Southport

The latest news from Southport's Little Theatre

Georgina Highcock

Georgina Highcock, InYourArea Community

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Life at The Little Theatre column: The Wolves return to Southport

ALMOST SHOWTIME: Cast members rehearsing for the show

By Jennifer Corcoran and Andrew Sloman

They say good things come to those who wait – and we have a real treat for you as we finally stage the magical family adventure, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase at the Little, almost exactly a year after it was postponed.

It opens next Tuesday, March 7th and runs until Saturday 11th March. This intriguing and atmospheric drama is based on the stories of Joan Aiken. Aiken was born in Sussex in 1924. Her father was American Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Conrad Aiken and her mother Canadian academic, Jessie MacDonald.

She had completed her first novel by sixteen, then at seventeen had a short story accepted for publication and her first children’s story was broadcast on BBC’s Children’s Hour. At 21 she married journalist Ronald George Brown and they had two children before she was widowed a decade later.  After her husband’s death, Aiken began working for a magazine, honing her craft and publishing several short stories.

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REHEARSALS: Cast members are busy preparing for their run of shows

The novel, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase was published in 1962, the first of the
Wolves Chronicles, or the James III series, in reference to the reimagined historical setting.

Aiken created a world where the monarch was never deposed and wolves had invaded via a tunnel under the channel. A channel tunnel was purely conceptual at the time and triggered very real fears about potential invaders from the continent.

Aiken also worked with the popular illustrator Quentin Blake on a series of books. Her style meant that her novels could be published as complete works, or be serialised. This skill led to successful adult novels complementing existing works such as Jane Fairfax, about the character in Jane Austen’s Emma.

New York landscape painter Julius Goldstein became her second husband in 1976 and they divided time between their homes.  She was awarded the MBE for services to children’s literature in 1999.  Julius died in 2001 then Joan in 2004.  She was survived by her two children as well as her body of work.

DON'T MISS OUT: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is on from March 7-11

To book for Southport Dramatic Club - go to the Little Theatre Southport website , or visit the box office in person/ ring 01704 530521 between 11am to 1pm - and from 6pm to curtain up on show nights.

For more information about Southport Dramatic Club, visit our website. For updates, competitions and more follow us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The Little Theatre is at Hoghton Street, Southport, Merseyside.

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