Notes from a Small Island stage adaption to make world premiere at Watermill Theatre

2023 will see the world premiere stage adaption of Notes from a Small Island at Newbury’s Watermill Theatre.

Bill Bryson’s award-winning memoir, affectionately celebrating the quirks and eccentricities of British life, is brought to the stage by BAFTA and Olivier Award winning playwright Tim Whitnall.

The world premiere production will run from 3 February – 18 March, launching the venue’s 2023 season.

The cast will bed led by Olivier-nominated Mark Hadfield (Thérèse Raquin, Into the Woods) as Bill Bryson alongside Bryony Corrigan (The Play That Goes Wrong), Wendy Nottingham (Vera Drake), Anne Odeke (As You Like It), Steve Pinder (Wicked), Akshay Sharan (Jack Absolute Flies Again) and Hayden Wood (The Play That Goes Wrong).

Delayed from 2020 due to the pandemic, Notes from a Small Island is directed by The Watermill’s Artistic Director Paul Hart, designed by Katie Lias, and produced in association with Simon Friend Entertainment.

What makes us love this country we call our own?

From Calais to Scotland, Bill travels the length and breadth of Britain. Why does the nation that produced Marmite, Gardener’s Question Time and people who say “Ooh lovely” at the sight of a cup of tea, hold such a special place in this American’s heart?

Tim Whitnall said: “It’s been both a privilege and a delight to have distilled Bill Bryson’s hilarious and affecting 379-page travelogue into a two-act stage play. This wonderful book has been a firm favourite of mine since its publication, and I’m still pinching myself to believe I’ve been permitted anywhere near it as a playwright!”

The creative team is completed by lighting design by Ali Hunter, sound design by Ed Lewis, projection design by George Reeve, and with Sibylla Archdale Khalid as assistant director.

For more information and tickets, visit watermill.org.uk