Wonder Boy
Cast: 3-4f 2m (with additional non-speaking parts that can be doubled)
Staging: Flexible (minimal requirements, scope for imaginative staging)
Amateur rights performance fee: £85 per performance (plus VAT where applicable)
19 Sep 2024Size: 198mm x 129mm
19 Sep 2024
Wonder Boy
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Sonny is twelve. He stammers and is finding his way in a world ruled by vicious vowels, confusing consonants, and the biggest beast of all – small talk. His only escape is with a comic-book hero of his own creation, who helps Sonny soar above his reality.
But when he's cast by the headteacher in the school production of Hamlet, he soon discovers that language is power – and the real heroes are closer than he thinks.
Ross Willis's play Wonder Boy is a 'boundingly imaginative' (The Times) drama about the power of finding your own voice. It was first directed by Sally Cookson, performed at Bristol Old Vic in 2022, named Best Play at the 2023 Writers' Guild Awards, and revived for a UK tour in 2024.
A Resource Pack for teachers, prepared by Blackpool Grand Theatre, is available to download below.
Note for performers: Wonder Boy offers drama groups and theatre companies plenty of scope for inventive staging. It contains frequent strong language and some scenes that may not be suitable for younger children. Age guidance: 12+.
'What use is a boy who can't say his own name?'
'Audaciously inventive, sparky yet sensitive, giddily enjoyable... an extraordinary exploration of adolescence... Willis can make quotidian detail startling... Even the stage directions ping... Willis's play unfolds itself in miraculous ways. It's some kind of wonderful'
Guardian'Boundingly imaginative'
The Times'Few things in theatre can match the electricity of a first-night crowd that believes what they've just seen will join the canon. Wonder Boy, by rights, should be on the school curriculum tomorrow... Willis' writing has all the roguish energy of a Year 8 inner-city classroom... Willis has a terrific theatrical imagination and his dialogue also sizzles... a work designed to celebrate and find joy in overcoming adversity. You can't help but be washed along with it'
WhatsOnStage'A welcome treat... as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking... impressive stuff'
British Theatre Guide'Exhilarating... Ross Willis has a terrific feel for words... inspiring, irrespective of age'
ObserverCast: 3-4f 2m (with additional non-speaking parts that can be doubled)
Staging:Flexible (minimal requirements, scope for imaginative staging)
Amateur rights performance fee: £85 per performance (plus VAT where applicable)
19 Sep 2024Size: 198mm x 129mm
19 Sep 2024
