Alan Ayckbourn’s The Boy Who Fell Into a Book Musical

Alan Ayckbourn’s 1988 fantasy play The Boy Who Fell Into a Book is being adapted into a stage musical by composers Cathy Shostak and Eric Angus with a view to it running at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough next year.

Shostak and Angus' previous credits include a musical adaptation of the BBC children’s drama The Demon Headmaster. Paul James is writing the book and lyrics with musical direction by Mark Warman.

The Boy Who Fell Into a Book is a journey into the unknown with bookworm Kevin finding himself with his fictional hero investigator Rockfist Slim. They travel through all the books on Kevin’s bookshelf to find a way home and avoid the underworld baddie The Green Shark. Their dash takes them through Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Kidnapped, a book of Ghost Stories, Chess For Beginners and a family of jelly-throwing Wooblies!

The show is currently at the workshop stage with Ayckbourn directing a cast including Janie Dee, who has worked on his productions Woman in Mind and the musical Dreams From a Summerhouse based on Beauty and the Beast.