Over the last few years, New Perspectives has toured many adaptations of books and novels, including The Fishermen (2018), A Fortunate Man (2019) and We Need New Names (2023). And, when you delve into the New Perspectives archive, it becomes very clear that adaptations and reimaginings of existing stories and characters are a key part of the company’s history.

Here are some of the stories New Perspectives have adapted over the last 50 years.

 

Darkness, Darkness by John Harvey (2016)

Adapted from the novel of the same name, John Harvey brought one of his most well-known characters, Detective Inspector Resnick, to the stage for the first ever co-production between New Perspectives and Nottingham Playhouse, Darkness, Darkness. In their review of the production East Midlands Theatre called it “‘bleddeh good’ theatre.

Set in North Nottinghamshire village Bledwell Vale, the play follows the Nottinghamshire detective investigating a murder after a body turns up in a garden. The story is deeply embedded within the mining communities of the 1980s the body turns out to be that of an activist during the miners’ strike.

As part of our 50^th anniversary, we spoke to John Askew and Elizabeth Twells who met and fell in love on the set of Darkness, Darkness. You can watch their full interview on their experience of working on Darkness, Darkness and their second New Perspectives production together Harvest here.

 

Phileas Fogg and the Phantom Flyer by Mary Elliott Nelson (1998)

When writing about Phileas Fogg and the Phantom Flyer by Mary Elliott Nelson, rural touring scheme Live & Local said: "This is what theatre really is! Why don't more people do it like this?"

The play took characters from Around the World in Eighty Days and combined them with the true story of the theft of the painting ‘Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire’ by Gainsborough for a brand new adventure.

One audience member from Little Brington in Northamptonshire: “New Perspectives Theatre Company never cease to amaze me at your ingenuity in using all available space for scenery and the ability of your superb acting to transport us by land, canal and air in an enthralling evening’s entertainment.”

 

The Iron Man by Ted Hughes, adapted by Daniel Buckroyd (2006)

Adapted by Artistic Director Daniel Buckroyd from the book by Ted Hughes where an iron giant is eating all the metal in the village where a little boy called Hogarth lives, threatening the rural way of life, until an unexpected new threat causes them to begin to work together.

In the production’s programme, Daniel Buckroyd wrote: "I don't know how old I was when I first read The Iron Man but I know that I've never forgotten a word of it - that every image contained in Hughes' deceptively simple tale of a boy, his father and a great big robot has lodged in my memory; that my fascination with it had only got stronger as I've got older and particularly since I've become a father myself; and that, ever since I started making theatre, I've wanted to bring this contemporary classic to life on stage in a way that is both truly theatrical and yet also stays true to the storytelling roots of the original."

It seems like the crew had a few technical issues with the Iron Man in the play however… Stage report from Salisbury Arts Centre: "Iron Man fell off cliff during message scene". Same venue next day: "Iron man fell during message scene again!" Sutton-Cum-Lound village hall: "Iron man's arm fell off!!!" Next day at Robin Hood Community Hall and School: "Iron man's arm fell off again!"

 

Alice: The Queen of Hearts’ Revenge by David Neilson (1993)

This reimagined story of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was written by Leicestershire actor David Neilson who is best known for his role as Coronation Street's Roy Cropper.

The Mansfield Chad called the play a “pantomime with a difference, takes Lewis Carroll’s children’s classic an hilarious step further.”

At the beginning of the play Wonderland has become a dictatorship with the Queen of Hearts ruling over its inhabitants which are at her mercy. But, the Queen gets a shock when Alice returns to Wonderland along with a copy of the book.

The Hired Man by Melvyn Bragg and Howard Goodall (2007)

Based on the 1969 novel by Melvyn Bragg, New Perspectives premiered the first UK tour of the musical by Bragg and Howard Goodall.

Set in Cumbria, The Hired Man was about the “instability of rural employment in the face of technological advances and the first ‘tremors’ of the global economy”. The story followed the story of a young married couple trying to make a living from the land in the first quarter of the 20^th century through “full-blooded musical theatre with flavours of English choral and folk traditions”.

Audiences in Huddersfield got more than they bargained for though as the stage manager reported that “for some mysterious reason, football results were coming through the sound system”.