All set to create a right old Stink! (From Echo)

All set to create a right old Stink!

6:00pm Saturday 29th October 2011 in Leisure By Tom King

COMEDY gold, children’s author, Channel and Thames swimmer, and charity fundraiser extraordinaire, David Walliams is in danger of becoming a national treasure.

Although he’s perhaps best known for Little Britain, which he penned and starred in with comedy partner Matt Lucas, your kids probably know him better as the author of the Boy in the Dress, Billionaire Boy and Mr Stink.

The latter comes to the Palace Theatre, Westcliff, next week as a stage adaptation. The lively story follows Chloe, who doesn’t like school very much, strike up an unlikely friendship with Mr Stink, a homeless tramp, who despite his pong is the only person who has ever been very nice to young Chloe.

David explains the book was given a new lease of life when it was adapted for the stage.

He says: “Like a lot of children’s books, it contains very vivid characters.

“They are ripe for the theatre because they are so bold. They leap off the page.

“They’re almost like cartoon characters who really suit being on stage, unlike more subtle characters who might get lost in the theatre.”

He says: “When Matt and I worked in the theatre on Little Britain Live, the characters almost worked better there than they did on TV because they were so over the top.

“In the same way, this story feels instantly dramatic.”

He kept his distance from the process, though, and left the show’s producer’s to get on with the adaptation as he didn’t want to get in the way.

He says: “If you’re close to a project, you have to let it go. I didn’t want to be looking over the producers’ shoulders the whole time. I know it would be really annoying if they had the author there saying, ‘No, I had a comma in that sentence’.

“It would not be helpful, and they’d all start hating me. It’s their baby now. I might advise, but I don’t want to dictate. I trust them completely. I’m very pleased with the script. It’s very faithful to my book. It hasn’t suddenly been set in outer space.”

The show features one very special contribution from David, though. Its unique selling point is that in keeping with its stinky name, it’s a scratch and sniff show, with kids being handed scratch and sniff cards which release pongy whiffs throughout the show.

David says proudly: “It is actually the world’s first-ever scratch and sniff theatre production! That was my idea. I felt it would be terrific fun to create an interactive element.

“I thought if I were a kid, I’d love to go to this show, and be told, ‘now scratch and sniff number two’, and get this disgusting smell from it.’ “Children are restless. They don’t want to sit in complete silence for the entire show. They want to be involved, to be frightened and to have a laugh. They want to feel part of the show.”

Despite its humorous exterior, Mr Stink does have a serious message. As well as sympathising with Chloe, who is bullied at school as well as at home by her ambitious mother, David was concerned about highlighting the plight of homeless people.

“I’ve always been drawn to outsiders,” he muses. “A lot of the characters in Little Britain, for instance, were outsiders who triumph. I hope children learn to accept people who are different and learn everyone has a story to tell.

“It’s quite a simple message – we should not judge people by how they look or, in this case, smell.”

“The book is ultimately about Chloe’s courage to stop and talk to this homeless person. I hope children will relate to that. In the end, Mr Stink encourages her to fulfil her dreams. It’s the story of a very unlikely friendship.”

David was delighted with his shift from TV entertainer to children’s book writer, and says he’s got real pleasure out of using his talents to encourage youngsters to read more.

“It’s different from TV, where the reaction is very immediate,” he explains. With a book, it’s slower – children might only read a few pages every night for a month.

“But what’s really pleasing is I will be in a supermarket and parents will stop me and say, ‘Thank you. My son couldn’t get into reading until he started reading your books’.

“I know that if you’re ten, there are so many amazing computer games you can play for ten hours a day and it can take a lot for some kids to get into reading.

“So to be thanked by parents for turning their children on to books is just amazing. I couldn’t ask for more.”

Mr Stink, Palace Theatre, London Road, Westcliff November 2-6 Various times.

£7.50-£19.50 01702 351135