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Press tickets for review purposes

Hello stars!

There is power in words. Power in planting a seed of kindness. There is power in hope.

The Book Thief is a heartbreakingly harrowing yet heart-warmingly comforting stage adaption which moves with great pace, beautifully performed numbers and metaphors and symbolism in an abundance.

I wondered how The Book Thief would play out as a musical, beforehand, I had contemplated whether it was a musical because musicals sell and whether it should’ve been a play.

But I was wrong.

The musical numbers, in particular ‘Music Nonetheless’ and ‘Hello Stars’ were absolutely stunning, with the former being the first of many tears that I’d shed throughout the 2h 10 minute musical.

Jodi Picoult and Timothy Allen McDonald adapted the novel for the stage with the direction of Lotte Wakeham. The Book Thief is centred around Liesel Meminger (Erini Louskou), a young girl navigating Nazi Germany dealing with trauma after trauma yet remaining hopeful. Having been fostered by Rosa Hubermann (Mina Anwar) and Hans Hubermann (Jack Lord), she grows from illiteracy to getting lost in the magic of a book and learning that you can write love over hate, and stories deserve to be told and shared. We later meet Max (Daniel Krikler) who teaches Liesel some life lessons that will stay with her for the rest of her days.

Jack Lord brought comfort and strength to the role of Hans. I instantly liked his character and the way he portrayed his grief and anguish towards the past, the present and yet still showed hope for the future.

Narrated by Death (Obioma Uguola), the play opens with the same lines from the book ‘here is a small fact… you are going to die’ and Obioma’s delivery of that line set the precedent for just how powerful a presence he was going to be. Plus, if opening a musical with that line doesn’t make you sit up, be shocked, and listen, I don’t know what would. I especially loved his transition into different ‘choice’ roles which cemented the ‘don’t ask me to be nice’ thought. Yet, despite being a cruel and inevitable process – Death brought respect, honour and comfort to those who passed. The emotional connection between the characters, the presence around Liesel, the way Obioma delivered his lines, it was all perfection.

Liesel (Erini Louskou) as I mentioned previously did a grand job of leading the production. Her reaction to the final scene before the interval was heart wrenchingly strong, I could not take my eyes off of the grief and shock that was plastered over her face. Expertly done. She was fantastic at portraying a sense of crumbling, a sense of despair, a punctured heart if you will, throughout the musical yet always came with a sense of hope – you can love her for that, if you like.

The themes of colours remained true throughout the production. Death comments on the colour of the sky, the white of snow, the colours of the souls, and the colours explore the harrowing experiences of the cast. I thought this was brought to life impeccably by the clever use of lighting (Nic Farman) and the stage and costume design (Good Teeth) which never left a shade of bleak and despair.

The Book Thief is a brilliant piece of theatre which takes you on an emotional rollercoaster. It provides an incredibly powerful service reminding us that back then the leader of the country planted seeds of lies and it was civilians that read these lies and helped to build hate and divide and if we do not plant seeds of kindness and navigate our way through life with compassion and love then we are in grave danger.

Write love over hate.

It’s on until October 14th at Curve and I’d urge you to pack your tissues… you’ll need them!

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Curve Theatre, Leicester
FRI 29 SEP – SAT 14 OCT

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Age restriction: 11+
Show warnings: The performance features occasional on-stage smoking, strong language and violence. The Book Thief contains themes of the Holocaust, death, grief, antisemitism, racism, and xenophobia
Running time: 2 hours and 30 minutes including a 20-minute interval