Charles Way – författare

Red Red Shoes was commissioned by the Unicorn Theatre for Children and The Place. Based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale, this play uses dance, music and drama to explore the inner world of a traumatised child fleeing from war in Eastern Europe. (Ages 9+)Eye of the Storm offers a contemporary version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, exploring father/daughter relationships and the need for independence. (Ages 12+)Playing From the Heart, commissioned by the Polka Theatre, is a poetic piece which follows the travails of the young Evelyn Glennie to become a professional musician despite her profound deafness. (Ages 8+)

Three timeless tales retold for the stage by one of the UK’s most renowned writers of plays for children, Charles Way. Winner of the Writers Guild Best Children’s Play Award, his plays appeal to audiences of all ages and are translated into several languages and performed internationally. Each of the three plays explores the journey from childhood to adulthood, but each takes a specific angle.

Sleeping Beauty is driven by the notion of duality. Everyone and everything in the play has a complimentary aspect; King and Queen, Castle and forest, bright witch and dark witch, etc. Gryff, half-dragon, half-human is the physical embodiment of the idea of duality and is at war with himself. This is both dramatic, since it provides the conflict needed for the drama, and thematically rich, since it explores what all of us, but more precisely children, feel as they grow up.

Cinderella is a play about a journey from darkness to light, from sickness to health. Everyone in the play is under the influence of some kind of loss, and the play explores these feelings and the sometimes painful route one must take to accommodate them and move on in life. It’s a moving and beautiful play, that also manages to be tremendously funny and the introduction of Mozart as a character, whose music charts the whole journey toward light and joy, is a theatrical coup.

Where Cinderella has music at its core, Beauty and the Beast has dance. This is a play about overcoming fear, and the subconscious world is represented through imagery and movement. The play begins with a startling dream sequence and then segues into the drawing-room world of a Jane Austen novel, before moving to the wilds of Dartmoor. Throughout this journey one is never sure if the play is in dreamtime or not, and Way connects this feeling to the very act of theatre itself. As ever, the themes are explored through dramatic action, and the result in Beauty and the Beast is a script of rare brevity that allows actors and directors room to explore the profound nature of the story.

Three timeless tales retold for the stage by one of the UK’s most renowned writers of plays for children and young people, Charles Way. His plays appeal to audiences of all ages, are translated into many languages and perfomed internationally. This collection includes The Golden Goose, The Tinderbox and Sinbad – The Untold Tale.

THE TINDERBOX: This is truly magical entertainment, a beautifully crafted show. --The StageSINBAD - THE UNTOLD TALE This fabulous new adventure by acclaimed children s playwright Charles Way is a Christmas treat families will remember forever. --The Keswick ReminderTHE GOLDEN GOOSE: Charles Way transforms A Midsummer Night s Dream into a lively and magical mid-winter adventure. --The Guardian

CHARLES WAY

Charles began writing plays in 1978 when he joined Leeds Playhouse TIE team. He has written over 40 plays, many of them for young people. His plays ''Sleeping Beauty'' and ''The Search for Odysseus'' were both nominated as Best Children''s Play by the Writer''s Guild with ''A Spell of Cold Weather'' winning the award in 1996. His play about the percussionist Evelyn Glennie, ''Playing from the heart'' was nominated as Best Children''s Show by the TMA. Other plays include: ''The Flood'', ''One Snowy Night'' [Chichester Festival Theatre], and ''The Night Before Christmas '' [Polka Theatre]. Charles'' plays for adults include adaptations of Bruce Chatwin''s ''On the Black Hill'' and Halldor Laxness'' ''Independent People''. In Wales, he has long associations with Gwent Theatre, The Sherman Theatre and Hijinx Theatre, for whom he has written ''In the Bleak Midwinter'', and ''Ill Met by Moonlight.'' He was recently commissioned by the National Theatre to write ''Alice in the News'', which children all over Britain have performed. Other new plays include: ''Still Life '' [Plymouth Theatre Royal], and ''The Long Way Home'', for New Perspectives Theatre/CIAO Festival. In 2004, Charles won the Arts Council''s Children''s Award for his play ''Red Red Shoes'' [Unicorn Theatre/The Place] and ''Merlin and the Cave of Dreams'' [Imagination Stage] was nominated in USA for a Helen Hayes award for the outstanding new play of 2004 . Charles has written many plays for radio, and a TV poem for BBC2, ''No Borders'', set on the Welsh borders, where he lives and has spent most of his creative life.

Brilliant adaptation of Charles Dickens biting novel Hard Times.

Dominated by Gradgrind and Bounderby, Coketown’s prosperity is built on the cotton mills where thousands of men and women slave away for long hours and little pay. Gradgrind’s obsession with material progress damages his children Louisa and Tom, leading to scandal and disaster. ‘Hard Times’ celebrates the importance of the human heart in an age obsessed with materialism. Circus, music, and dark comedy all go into the rich mix of this truly Dickensian theatrical tale.

Charles Way has written over 50 plays, specializing in writing for children, young people and family audiences. His plays are performed worldwide. He has won several major awards - A Spell of Cold Weather won the Writers Guild best children''s play award in 2001 and in 2004 his play Red Red Shoes won the English Arts Council best children''s play award. In Germany, his play Missing won the Children''s Theatre prize and in the USA  he was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award. He was commissioned by the National Theatre to write Alice In The News, which children all over Britain have performed. He has also written many plays for radio, and a TV poem for BBC 2, No Borders, set in the Welsh borders, where he lives and has spent most of his creative life.

  "A stellar adaptation by Charles Way, moving, thoughtful and wonderfully drawn’.                        What’s on Stage *****

‘Way gives real depth to characters, replaces Dickens’ sentimentality with warmth and his censoriousness with moral indignation’.                           The Independent *****

‘daringly restructures Dickens’ plot, yet sticks to the motto of his lisping ringmaster Mr Sleary: “People mutht be amuthed.”’                                             The Observer

Ideal play for schools and family audiences.

About a child going to stay with her relations for the Christmas holidays and discovering a magical world.

Holly has to spend New Year with the grumpiest pair of farmers who ever ploughed a field. Luckily, she meets a faery called Tomos, whose magic and mischief brighten up her days and transform her stay into a real adventure.

  "A stellar adaptation by Charles Way, moving, thoughtful and wonderfully drawn’.                        What’s on Stage *****

‘Way gives real depth to characters, replaces Dickens’ sentimentality with warmth and his censoriousness with moral indignation’.  *****         The Independent 

‘daringly restructures Dickens’ plot, yet sticks to the motto of his lisping ringmaster Mr Sleary: “People mutht be amuthed.”’                                             The Observer

Charles Way has written over 50 plays, specializing in writing for children, young people and family audiences. His plays are performed worldwide. He has won several major awards - A Spell of Cold Weather won the Writers Guild best children''s play award in 2001 and in 2004 his play Red Red Shoes won the English Arts Council best children''s play award. In Germany, his play Missing won the Children''s Theatre prize and in the USA  he was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award. He was commissioned by the National Theatre to write Alice In The News, which children all over Britain have performed. He has also written many plays for radio, and a TV poem for BBC 2, No Borders, set in the Welsh borders, where he lives and has spent most of his creative life.

Adapted for the stage, the story of Arthur facing monsters conjured by Merlin, in his quest to become King, is perfect for schools and family audiences. 

The King is dead and the Green Kingdom is in turmoil as is seeks a new heir. Only the all-powerful wizard Merlin knows that the future lies in the hands of the young boy Arthur. Taken away from the only home he has ever known, Arthur slumbers in Merlin’s mystical Cave of Dreams. Here, his past and future are revealed in a glorious vision that will transform his life and lead him on a magical adventure. Can Arthur outwit the giants and slay the dragons that stand in his way? Will he pull the sword from the stone and claim his rightful kingdom?

CHARLES WAY: Charles began writing plays in 1978 when he joined Leeds Playhouse TIE team. He has written over 40 plays, many of them for young people. His plays ''Sleeping Beauty'' and ''The Search for Odysseus'' were both nominated as Best Children''s Play by the Writer''s Guild with ''A Spell of Cold Weather'' winning the award in 1996. His play about the percussionist Evelyn Glennie, ''Playing from the heart'' was nominated as Best Children''s Show by the TMA. Other plays include: ''The Flood'', ''One Snowy Night'' [Chichester Festival Theatre], and ''The Night Before Christmas '' [Polka Theatre]. Charles'' plays for adults include adaptations of Bruce Chatwin''s ''On the Black Hill'' and Halldor Laxness'' ''Independent People''. In Wales, he has long associations with Gwent Theatre, The Sherman Theatre and Hijinx Theatre, for whom he has written ''In the Bleak Midwinter'', and ''Ill Met by Moonlight.'' He was recently commissioned by the National Theatre to write ''Alice in the News'', which children all over Britain have performed. Other new plays include: ''Still Life '' [Plymouth Theatre Royal], and ''The Long Way Home'', for New Perspectives Theatre/CIAO Festival. In 2004, Charles won the Arts Council''s Children''s Award for his play ''Red Red Shoes'' [Unicorn Theatre/The Place] and ''Merlin and the Cave of Dreams'' [Imagination Stage] was nominated in USA for a Helen Hayes award for the outstanding new play of 2004 . Charles has written many plays for radio, and a TV poem for BBC2, ''No Borders'', set on the Welsh borders, where he lives and has spent most of his creative life.