Review: The Book Thief musical (World Premier) - Bolton
- Lisa in the theatre
- Oct 19, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 4
A new musical adaptation of Markus Zusak‘s bestselling novel The Book Thief has its world premier at The Octagon Theatre in Bolton this month. Adapted by bestselling author Jodi Picoult and Timothy Allen McDonald, with music and lyrics by Kate Anderson and Elyssa Samsel, The Book Thief is one of my favourite novels of the last 20 years, and so yes - I did indeed drive over 400 miles round trip to see it come to life on stage.
The Book Thief (musical) ★★★★☆
Review: Octagon Theatre, Bolton | 13 October 2022
The Book Thief musical: what is it about?
1940: Nazi Germany. Death (Ryan O'Donnell) narrates the story of a young girl's life.
12 year old Liesel (Bea Glancy) steals a book abandoned in the snow. She develops a love of words and reading, and progresses to steal books from libraries and churches, and even dares to rescue books from Nazi book burnings.
Due to the increasing risks from the war, The Book Thief is sent to live with foster parents outside the city. Here she befriends a neighbour boy Rudy (Alfie Corbett) and the two get up to more mischief together.
When Liesel's foster parents hide Max, a Jewish man (Matthew Heywood) in their basement, Liesel's eyes are opened to the brutality of the war, the impact of words and the importance of human kindness.
The Book Thief musical review
The Book Thief musical is a thoroughly well written and acted piece of theatre. It's one thing to read about the horrors of World War II and the holocaust, but to see a line of Jews with their yellow badges, being marched in line just a few feet from your face, is unforgettable and incredibly powerful.
The staging at The Octagon Theatre in Bolton is beautifully lit and atmospheric, and perhaps most importantly with a brand new musical theatre production, the songs are good!
The narrative moved along at pace and all the key points from the book are covered. I loved the novel by Markus Zusak, though there's no getting away from it - this is a sad book - but it's handled beautifully in the adaptation here by Jodi Picoult.
The company of actors at the Octagon are excellent - Ryan O'Donnell is sensational. The child actors, who have full lead roles in this musical, are astonishing. Take a bow Bea Glancy and Alife Corbett.
As beautiful and powerful as this piece of theatre is, it's also very difficult to watch at times. I was surrounded by secondary school groups at the performance I saw, and their gasps were audible. The Book Thief should be required viewing for anyone too young to have actually lived through World War II; It's certainly the closest I've ever been to being (safely) immersed in the horrors while simultaneously being heartened and uplifted by the enduring joys and innocence of childhood. ★★★★☆
[Short review first published on Instagram October 2022 - almost a year before I launched this website, but I wanted to include it here for my own memories]
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