In the world of picture books, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler need no introduction, creating hits such as The Gruffalo, Zog, and Room On The Broom, all of which boast hugely popular stage and screen adaptations. Next month, Midlands Arts Centre presents another Donaldson/Scheffler favourite: Tales From Acorn Wood At Christmas. The show features familiar Acorn Wood characters in puppet form, along with lively songs and audience interaction aplenty. What’s On chatted to the play’s director, Grace Goulding, to find out more…

Originally based on the charming ‘lift-the-flap’ book series, Midlands Arts Centre’s (MAC) festive production, Tales From Acorn Wood At Christmas, brings the work of picture-book powerhouses Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler to the stage.

Packed with puppetry, toe-tapping tunes and interactive moments, the hour-long show is performed by five actors, who between them operate 17 animal puppets...

“We tell five main stories in this production,” explains the play’s director, Grace Goulding. “Fox's Socks, Hide-And-Seek Pig, Rabbit's Nap, Postman Bear, and then we'll finish with Squirrel’s Snowman - which should make everyone feel Christmassy!”

Hailed as ‘a festive lift-the-flap experience’, the play draws on the interactive nature of the picture books in ways which would only be possible in a live stage production.

“Axel Scheffler’s artwork is projected onto a big wall at the back of our stage,” says Grace. “It's a white wall with lots of gaps - holes, doors and windows - but when you project his work onto it, it looks like we're following the book. Between each story, the projection moves like we're turning the page. Then we might knock on a door, and as the projection ‘opens’, there will be a ‘live’ flap that reveals the puppets behind it. It’s the most magical thing when you see a one- or two-year-old that really knows the language of the book sit down and see the whole thing magnified.”

The page-to-stage design naturally also extends to the puppets - which have been especially created to bring these familiar illustrated characters into three dimensions.

“They've been designed so that they look exactly like Axel Scheffler’s drawings. When you look at Bear, it's the bear from the book... The puppetry becomes less about ‘War Horse realism’ and more about the joy of whatever we're trying to communicate in that moment.”

Tales From Acorn Wood At Christmas is made by Norwell Lapley Productions (NLP), who last year scored another wintery hit at MAC with The Owl Who Came For Christmas.

“We love the MAC. We were there last Christmas. They're just a beautiful company of people with a really great space. It's very intimate, the stage space that we're performing in. You feel like you're in the story with us.”

After working with NLP for some time - during which she’s become very familiar with Tales From Acorn Wood - Grace’s role has moved from being the show’s puppet director and choreographer, to directing the whole production.

“Normally I'm in a team of about five people - this time it’s a one-woman show in terms of the rehearsal room content. The joy for me is actually teaching people new skill sets. A lot of actors, when they come through this show, will go, ‘Wow, I can really throw puppetry in my CV quite strongly now, because I've been given all of the tools...’ It's something I really love doing.”

The play’s hard-working performers have their work cut out, required to multi-task as they sing, move and act - all while wrangling their puppet alter egos.

“They’re little one-man bands! It's like five Dick Van Dykes on stage, doing multiple things at once... For example, in Hide-And-Seek Pig, every time you find a new character, we will sing a song, and that character gets added to our ‘hide-and-seek’. I think at one point you've got five puppeteers all puppeteering at least two animals at the same time - it builds and builds.”

Tales From Acorn Wood At Christmas is aimed at young people aged between 18 months and six years - and the production promises to meet the challenge of keeping a broad spectrum of children entertained.

“We have strategic moments where the children join in - or they get asked to join us in some way - which keeps it fresh. It also means that they're not doing the same thing all the way through the hour. They're looking at different characters; they’re being asked to interact in different ways. And the way that the story is told is different each time. Some animals you don't see till near the end - it's something new, a little gift in each story.”

Grace understands the importance of providing on-stage representation for the different young people in attendance - and finding creative ways to communicate.

“We're using things like British Sign Language in the show, and Makaton - it's important tonally to find joy but make it universal. Regardless of whether a child speaks English, for example, they can understand the slapstick storytelling. A bit of a spoiler - we've got a Mexican actress playing the Pig, so we have Spanish in the show. We also have some French, when Bear’s cooking. We have these various moments where we jump into different languages. Again, it just gives [the audience] a fuller show, with lots of interactive elements and different ways to hear the story.

“We get a lot of feedback from parents of either neurodiverse children or children with hearing impairments who say, ‘I can watch this show, not worrying about how it's going to impact my child. I can just have a moment where I'm not having to check they’re not getting overstimulated; they're not going to get scared.’”

It also helps that the stories have been drawn straight from the popular picture books of ‘kids lit’ mega-stars Donaldson and Scheffler. Many of the duo’s works have found huge success on page, stage and screen - The Gruffalo, Room On The Broom and Stick Man, to name just a few. Grace aims to harness the books’ spirit in the production, and has a theory why the stories translate so well across different media: “There's a big part of our rehearsal process where we’re looking at the books and going, ‘Look at how simple that is. Look at how joyful that character is.’ All of the language is positive. If someone jumps out, it's not to create a negative impact on that other character. It's to add to the excitement or to add to the story. If somebody's done something wrong or forgets something, then we don't shame them in any way.

“I think [Donaldson’s] stories really capture the innocence of being a child. There's no sarcasm in them. There's a real duty of care, telling a story with genuine emotion and encouraging basic things like friendship and excitement; getting a present for a bear because it's on its own on its birthday. It's really wholesome, and when we’re thinking about stage adaptations, it's not just a children's story that we're lifting and popping on the stage. We're also trying to capture that innocence.”

Tales From Acorn Wood At Christmas shows at Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, from Tuesday 1 to Sunday 27 December

By Jessica Clixby