Our Christmas production, Inkheart is an adventure show, with thrills and spills, fun and jokes, not forgetting goodies and baddies! We caught up with the 10-strong cast during rehearsals to find out who were their favourite characters when they were growing up, and also which characters they would have done anything to avoid…
Rachel Atkins plays Elinor and Mortola
– I would love to have met Pippi Longstocking as she was feisty, fearless, great fun, and the strongest girl in the world. Very importantly, she lived on her own in a colourful house in the forest, so no adults to boss her about. Plus she had a pet monkey and a horse!
– Cruella de Vil terrified me as a child as she was an evil nasty bully of a woman who would stop at nothing to get her claws into all those puppies just to make a coat.”
Katherine Carlton plays Meggie
– My favourite was Katie Morag. I would want to meet her as I think I’d have a great adventure with her on the island where she lives. She’s very independent and funny and I always wanted to be her!
– My least favourite? There are two that stick in my mind: The wolf from Little Red Riding Hood as I was always worried he’d eat my grandmother! And the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk as I remember being absolutely terrified of his feet and his long talon-like toenails (as this is the image I had conjured up of him climbing down the beanstalk). I imagined he’d flatten me underfoot!
Darryle Clark plays Basta
– The character I would most like to meet is Supergran; the combination of fried egg and corned beef sandwiches and a grandma with superpowers was irresistible to me as a seven-year-old.
– My least favourite character(s) has got to be The Dementors from the Harry Potter books. Ron Weasley says of them “you look into their eyes and it’s like you’ll never be happy again.” Scary stuff.
Andrei Costin plays Farid
– My favourite book character is Hagrid from Harry Potter. He is such a kind and loyal character. I would like to meet him to see the sheer size of him and to go out together into the Forbidden Forest to find fantastic creatures. Also to get a big ol’ giant hug!
– My least favourite book characters are The Ogres from Romanian fairytales I used to read. They used to bring nothing but trouble and destruction so I wouldn’t like to be in their way!
Kern Falconer plays Fenoglio
– One of my favourite children’s book characters is Paddington Bear. I’d like to meet him because I admire his incredible spirit of adventure and his bravery in going half-way around the world to make new friends and experience new cultures. I particularly like the relationship he develops with Mr Gruber and the similar experiences they share.
– I would least like to meet Prince Humperdinck from The Princess Bride because he is selfish, cowardly, and cruel, with no consideration for any other than himself. But despite all his shortcomings he would prove an interesting character to play!
Kelly Hotten plays Narrator
– I would love to meet The BFG, the funny, inventive words that come out of his mouth make me laugh and he’s just so lovely. I’d like to take him to meet The Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland and scare her silly. I’d like to meet The Witch from Hansel and Gretel. When I was a kid I was terrified of her, but now I’d like to meet her and ask her why on earth she was so mean and more importantly how can I make a house out of gingerbread.
– I’d least like to meet The Queen from Snow White, I don’t think we’d get on at all. I’d also be very scared to meet Voldermort from Harry Potter, I don’t think I need to explain why!”
Will Irvine plays Capricorn
– I was a ferocious devourer of the Discworld books when I was younger and loved the character of Death. His curious puzzlement at human behaviour was always entertaining and I’d have loved to follow him on his rounds for a while.
– There was a trilogy of books about the Deptford Mice which I read when I was around 12 which had one character who absolutely terrified me. His name was Jupiter and I would hate to meet him in real life. I’m not sure exactly what he would look like though: I was never very good at picturing characters from their descriptions, and he appeared in lots of different forms: a mangy cat, an evil spirit – he even possessed a tattoo on a rat’s ear!”
Paul McEwan plays Mo
– My favourite children’s book characters are Wilbur and Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web. It was the book the teacher read us at school when I was seven or eight, the only one I really remember. It still brings a smile to my face.
– My least favourite character is the Headless Horseman from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Because he’s terrifying.
Andrew Sheridan plays Dustfinger
– My favourite character from a children’s book is Mr Fox from Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox. I’d like to meet him because he is a cheeky charmer, an impulsive dreamer who doesn’t accept his own position in life, and he’s a risk-taker who’s got some growing up to do. I think we’d get on.
– I really wouldn’t like to meet The Child Catcher out of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He always scared me when I was younger and (don’t tell anybody) he still does!
Griffin Stevens plays Flatnose
– My favourite character is Roald Dahl’s Mr Twit, I think we could construct some good tricks collectively.
– My least favourite character is Harry Potter. He’s a bit wet, dull, and nice. I only got a third through the first book before I gave up!
Inkheart continues on our stage until Sat 9 Jan 2016. Find out more and book tickets here. Find out more about our Big Family Day on Sunday 13 Dec, which features creative workshops, family friendly theatre, films, and Cornelia Funke signing copies of Inkheart here.