Looking for a family-friendly activity near Teddington this half-term?

Kingston's Rose Theatre is showing a brand new stage adaptation of the best-selling picture book The Smeds and The Smoos this week, and it's bound to be a hit with kids and parents alike.

Based on the best-selling picture book by the author of The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson, the play tells the story of two alien groups, the Red Smeds and Blue Smoos, who are divided until two of them fall in love.

Author Donaldson described it as "a Romeo and Juliet type plot" but stressed that her children's book has a happy ending.

Released in 2019, the Smeds and the Smoos was a hit and topped the picture book charts for two years in a row, later winning the British Book Award for Children's Book of the Year (Illustrated and Non-Fiction).

It has been translated into 23 languages and recently adapted into a play by Tall Stories, the theatre company who devised the play of the Gruffalo book almost twenty years ago.

The new play premiered at the Rose Theatre today.

Julia Donaldson said: "I can't wait to see the show, and I bet everyone's going to love it!"

Axel Scheffler, Donaldson's long-time collaborator and illustrator of the Smeds and the Smoos, said: "I'm excited that Tall Stories is bringing 'The Smeds and the Smoos' to the stage this year.

"Bill and Janet's alien adventure feels very timely, as it's a tale about unity and we have all felt isolated over the last year.

"Tall Stories has the challenge of creating lots of different alien species on stage – and I can't wait to see how they bring the book to life."

There will be eleven performances of the new play at the Rose Theatre, which will take place between 27 and 31 October.

It will then go on tour around the UK's regional theatres.

The play's cast includes Althea Burey (Janet), Dan Armstrong (Bill), Angela Laverick (Grandmother Smoo) and Tim Hibberd (Grandfather Smed).

For more information and to book tickets visit The Rose Theatre's website.

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