The Book Thief – Octagon Theatre, Bolton

Niamh Palmer and Charlie Murphy in The Book Thief at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

The Book Thief continues at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton until 15 October 2022.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Adapting lengthy and well-loved literary classics into musical theatre has almost become a competitive sport, and one in which the outcome is usually either a smash hit or a resounding flop. This retelling of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief is quite certainly set to become an instant hit.

The team behind it – director Lotte Wakeham, librettists Timothy Allen McDonald and Jodi Picoult, and composer/songwriters Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson – between them rack up countless hours of success, and the collective experience shows itself in spades throughout.

On the surface, a story narrated by the physical embodiment of Death and set amidst the fear and oppression of Nazi Germany doesn’t seem the obvious starting point for a musical but, as with so many other blockbusters before it, the powerful emotions, human story and uplifting message are a perfect vehicle for the medium.

One of this show’s greatest strengths is the wonderful sense of innocence and simplicity with which it approaches the telling of the story. It unfolds with a natural progression and the narrative from Ryan O’Donnell’s ever-present figure of Death never threatens to arrest the pulse or pace of the action. Set pieces of music and dance grow out of the fabric of the drama, and Tom Jackson Greaves’ choreography is filled with symbolism in its movement, complementing the storytelling.

The central character of young Liesel was played at this particular performance with enormous charm and confidence by Niamh Palmer, matched perfectly Rudy by Charlie Murphy as her friend (Charlie surely has a Billy Elliot performance in him). Daniel Krikler delivers a very strong performance as the family’s hidden secret, Max, amongst the uniformly excellent ensemble cast.

The towering set design from Good Teeth studio makes maximum use of the Octagon’s recently refurbished space, used in a thrust configuration, with tiers of action rising to the rafters and a space for the small onstage band at balcony level.

As mentioned earlier most of the musical numbers emerge from the action, but some make their own particular mark. Much as with ‘Master of the House’ in Les Misérables, ‘Late to the Party’, which comes three quarters of the way through Act I, is a show stopping knees-up that brings some light relief amidst the gradual story development.

Meanwhile ‘Hello Stars’ becomes a recurring motif throughout the piece, in which various characters have an opportunity to reflect. It also points towards the show’s incandescent conclusion, in which Nic Farman’s beautiful lighting design creates its final and most breathtaking piece of imagery, drawing us all towards the light in a glorious apotheosis.

Nigel Smith