This week the Flying Elephant Company will bring the stunning new family-friendly production, Book Nooks, to Adelaide audiences.
Book Nooks promises to uncover the magic you never knew existed inside books. Every year on Christmas eve, 11-year-old Jack Barker and his grandpa deliver candy canes and other sweets to the houses in their town, but this Christmas will be the first since his grandpa passed away. As the Barkers move into the newly inherited family home – the traditional gathering place for Christmas – Jack refuses to join the celebrations, believing that doing so would be leaving his grandpa behind.
However, one night Jack finds himself in the magical village of Grunkels – the miniature makers of Christmas sweets – who have made their homes within the forgotten encyclopedias and history books that sit on the top shelves of his grandpa’s bookcase. The Grunkels had found refuge with Jack’s grandpa after escaping a great reckoning in their homeland. But now that he is no longer around, they have no way of getting their Christmas sweets out to all the children of the town. That is, until Jack comes along.
Although reluctant at first, Jack grows close to the amiable creatures and carries on the tradition of delivering the Grunkels’ sweets, house by house, all the while learning how to cope with his loss, rediscovering his joy for Christmas, and reconnecting with his family.
Benji Riggs, who is the creative mind behind Book Nooks, spoke to Glam Adelaide about the new show, creating new works and what it is about theatre that keeps him wanting to create these magical worlds.
“I suppose the simplest answer is it just feels like home. I grew up doing theatre, and so it’s perhaps one of the most familiar things I know. It’s just something about being in the theatre, being on stage or backstage and knowing that anything is possible there.”
The Flying Elephant Company was created in 2020 by Riggs.
“The name itself came from Seussical The Musical – where at the end an elephant bird is hatched. Sussical is one of these fantastic pieces of theatre that echoes what I love about theatre – everything is possible. I guess the idea is that I wanted to create these stories that were full of wonder and magic and some absurdity as well. But really, where it all came from is that I had these ideas in my head, these stories that I wanted to tell, and I had enough of waiting around for other people to give me an opportunity, and so I thought, well, I’ll make the opportunity myself.”
Recently, Riggs starred in the critically acclaimed local production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which saw him nominated for awards for his performance. We asked Riggs how important it is for works such as Curious Incident to be written and performed.
“Curious Incident is an incredibly powerful work. Just being in it and having that role was such a privilege. When I saw it in London, I was taken aback by it. I thought it was a brilliant piece of theatre. It’s one of those kinds of stories, with any medium of art, they’re there to change our perspective or to challenge it. They help us learn, not just about other people but about ourselves, the way we think about things, the way we digest things.”
Riggs shared with us where the idea behind his new show, Book Nooks, came from.
“It’s really based on my relationship with my grandpa but I didn’t know at the time I was writing it. The initial idea was that there’s this world inside a book. Usually I get ideas from seeing something or hearing a bit of conversation. Images are often very strong inspirational ideas. I remember seeing online these book nooks. I thought that’s really cool, and had this kind of Dickensian, Diagon Alley-esque vibe. I thought of these creatures called Grunkels, which came from the term for great uncles. I’d spelled it slightly differently to give it a bit of an Austrian sense, like the old European Christmas stories. I didn’t know it was going to be a Christmas story until about a year ago. About six months after my grandpa passed away, I was driving to my parents’ place, and I thought, why not make it a Christmas story? I never really saw my grandpa too often, because he lived in the UK, so we’d only see him when we went over there, which was usually for Christmas. It was always a special time: the traditional Christmas celebrations, the family gatherings, the roast lunches and what not. But it was also a time for stories. And so I guess it turned into this sort of celebration of who my grandpa was and who I knew him to be: this whimsical, joke-telling storyteller who is just a wonderful man.”
Book Nooks opens this Wednesday, 18 December.
“I’m very excited about the music. and the world. The format of my shows tend to be an hour long, orchestral music with songs and score underpinning the narrative to give it a bit of a cinematic experience. I think this is the best work I’ve done so far, musically and lyrically. I’d love the Adelaide music theatre community to come along, because I think the show stands up to the musicals that we’ve grown up performing in and producing and watching our local community put on.”
Book Nooks
Burnside Ballroom – 401 Greenhill Road, Tusmore
Wednesday 18 December – Saturday 21 December 2024
https://www.flyingelephantcompany.com/booknooks
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