Sian Cain August 13, 2014

Hetty Feather: from book to stage – gallery

How did Jacqueline Wilson's wonderful book Hetty Feather make it to the West End? The people who adapted the book into a play – plus Jacqueline – explain how it was done

Hetty Feather cover — • Watch the trailer for Hetty Feather

Emma Reeves, adaptor of Hetty Feather: "I’ve worked on various TV series based on Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracy Beaker books, but I first met Jacqueline when she came to see my adaptation of Carrie’s War. She was very kind about the show, and I was delighted when our producer asked me to read Jacqueline’s new book, Hetty Feather, with a view to adapting it for stage."

Jacqueline Wilson, author of Hetty Feather: "I was thrilled when Mark at Novel Theatre approached me and started talking about a stage adaptation of Hetty Feather - and utterly delighted when I heard Emma would be writing the script. I love her work for the stage and television and I knew she would do a brilliant job. She's stayed absolutely true to the characters and plot but reimagined them in a perfect colourful and dramatic way to obtain the most impact on stage." Photograph: Kate Morley PR

Nurse puts Hetty's cap on Hetty Feather — Emma: "Jacqueline’s Hetty Feather is a Victorian founding. As the baby daughter of an unmarried mother, Hetty is given up to the tender mercies of the Foundling Hospital, an institution with a mission to ensure that its charges 'submit to the lowest stations, and should not be educated in such a manner as may put them upon a level with the Children of Parents who have the Humanity and Virtue to preserve them, and the industry to support them.'" Photograph: Helen Maybanks/Kate Morley PR

Phoebe Thomas as Hetty Feather — Emma: "Condemned to the 'lowest station' in her society, Hetty has, apparently, very little going for her. She’s a child, a female, illegitimate, with no guardian, no money, no home – even her name is not her own. Hetty has nothing – but as she will prove, having nothing doesn’t mean that you’re worthless." Photograph: Donald Cooper/Kate Morley PR

Phoebe Thomas as Hetty Feather — Emma: "I was immediately drawn into this page-turning, moving story, and captivated by the character of Hetty, an irrepressibly resilient force of nature who uses her imagination and infinite resourcefulness to hold on to her sense of identity and self-worth in a world determined to crush her spirit. In our production, she is perfectly played by Phoebe Thomas. In Jacqueline’s words, Phoebe could have been 'knitted for the part'." Photograph: Donald Cooper/Kate Morley PR

Phoebe Thomas as Hetty with company — Emma: "The circus is very important to Hetty; it symbolises her longing for escape from her repressive life. I decided to use a circus setting for the production; Jacqueline was delighted with the idea." Photograph: Donald Cooper/Kate Morley PR

Hetty 139 — Emma: "In the four years leading up to the production I watched a lot of diverse circus, looking for ways to introduce circus elements into the show, some of which even made it into the final show… This sequence, showing the courtship of Hetty’s parents, was choreographed by our brilliant aerial director, Gwen Hales, and our actor-aerialists, Matt Costain and Nikki Warwick." Photograph: Helen Maybanks/Kate Morley PR

Hetty hair cutting — Emma: "I was delighted when director Sally Cookson agreed to work on Hetty. She’s an inspirational theatre maker, who prefers to create a show in the rehearsal room rather than working from a completed script. This was my first experience of devising a show with actors, but I loved it – I hope it won’t be my last."

Jacqueline: "I'd read the glowing reviews of Sally Cookson's previous plays and was so immensely pleased when she agreed to direct Hetty Feather. She's brilliant at working with the actors so that they develop and devise the play in rehearsals. When I saw those six marvellous actors and two talented musicians take to the stage on the opening night I was totally bowled over!" Photograph: Donald Cooper/Kate Morley PR

Matt Costain as Jem in Hetty Feather — Emma: "We started with a week’s research and development, in which Sally, Gwen and I worked with a group of actors, designer Katie Sykes and musician Benji Bower to begin the process of exploring Hetty’s story. We devised some bits of script and also spent some time working on visual ways of telling some of the key moments." Photograph: Donald Cooper/Kate Morley PR

Hetty 007 — Emma: "In the months afterwards, before beginning rehearsals, Sally and I worked out a structure for the entire show, working out which characters and incidents to keep, cut, reorder, amalgamate. Jacqueline’s novel is very rich, bursting with character and incident, and we had to make some tough choices! Our plan wasn’t set in stone, and quite a lot would change along the way, but at least it was a starting point." Photograph: Helen Maybanks/Kate Morley PR

Hetty and Ida — Emma: "In the rehearsal room, we worked with a combination of scripted words and pure improvisation. Sometimes the actors would improvise a scene first and I would write the scene based on their words; other times I would bring in a script and we would use that as a starting point. I had to make a few tweaks to the storyline in order to tell the story in two hours. We had a storyboard along the walls, which helped us to chart our progress through the story (and sometimes hurry as along as we remembered how much we still had to do!)" Photograph: Helen Maybanks/Kate Morley PR

Hetty Banker — Emma: "The final script contains a rich mixture of lines from the book, lines written by me and lines created by the actors. Hopefully the final effect is seamless!" Photograph: Helen Maybanks/Kate Morley PR

Hetty Feather musicians — Emma: "Benji Bower’s music is a very important part of the production. The original musicians, Luke Potter and Seamus H Carey, were in the rehearsal room with us the whole time, creating the show’s unique soundtrack." Photograph: Helen Maybanks/Kate Morley PR

Hetty and company — Emma: "The teeming worlds of Victorian London, the Foundling Hospital, the farm where Hetty’s fostered and the travelling circus are all brought to life by the seamless ensemble work of our small, but massively talented acting company: Phoebe Thomas, Matt Costain, Sarah Goddard, Nikki Warwick, Isaac Stanmore and Paul Mundell. The six of them play every part, from the scary nurses of the Foundling Hospital to wide-eyed young foundlings – even horses – with lots of humour." Photograph: Helen Maybanks/Kate Morley PR

Hetty Feather production poster — Emma: "Bringing Hetty to life has been a privilege and a joy!"

Remember to enter our Hetty Feather competition! You can win a copy of the book signed by Jacqueline Wilson plus four tickets to see Hetty Feather at the Vaudeville Theatre in London this summer by emailing childrens.books@theguardian.com with the title "Hetty Feather" by 17 August 2014, with one sentence on why you want to see the play. The Prize is for one family ticket (admits four, min one adult) to see one performance of Hetty Feather at the Vaudeville Theatre until 6 September 2014. All entries must be received by 6pm, 17 August 2014, and the winner will be notified by 18 August 2014. All prizes must be redeemed by 6 September 2014. Strictly subject to availability, the tickets are not transferable and hold no cash value. Photograph: Kate Morley PR

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