Epic fantasy The Chronicles of Atom & Luna heads to Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre this month.
The magical children’s adventure from Funnelwick Limb, by poet, writer and broadcaster Murray Lachlan Young (BBC 6 Music), following young heroes Atom and Luna on a fantastical journey through nature and time, can be seen at the Scarborough venue on 25 and 26 October.
When Atom and Luna, who have been left home alone, are saved from starvation by an unexpected visitor Iffley Sney, it leads to a series of magical events. When Iffley falls terribly ill, only the twins can save him, and on a journey that will change their lives forever, they must head into the forbidden forest to seek out Old Mother Redbeard.
Writer Murray Lachlan Young says: “I’m so excited we are going to be bringing Atom and Luna to life, a project the team and I have been working on since lockdown! It’s a wonderful, epic fairy tale – it’s got heart, it’s got soul, it’s got strange characters and above all else it takes you on a magical adventure. It’s been such fun imagining and writing the show, so I can’t wait to see it realised live on stage.”
This production stars Becca Bindang (Get Happy, UK Tour), Farrell Cox (Ambivalence, All in the Mind Festival), Alex Scott Fairley (Nothello, Coventry Belgrade Theatre) and Fran Burgoyne (Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Southwark Playhouse).
Nina Hajiyianni (Artistic Director, Theatre Porto) directs, music is by Chris Warner, and illustrations and design by Bek Palmer (Olivier-nominated What the Ladybird Heard, West End and UK tour). Matthew Linley (The Ballad of Maria Marten, UK tour) is the producer, co-produced by Theatre Porto and Eastern Angles Theatre Company.
Ahead of the tour, audiences can start getting inside the world of Atom and Luna with innovative free digital content available from Funnelwick Limb’s website (www. funnelwicklimb.com/the-chronicles-of-atom-luna). Six audio tales (performed by Murray, with music by Orbital’s Paul Hartnoll) delve into the world of the show and a unique, playable augmented reality storybook game gives players the chance to enter the forbidden wood themselves and seek out Old Mother Redbeard.
The production and digital wrap around has been made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council England using public money raised via the National Lottery.
The Chronicles of Atom & Luna can be seen at the SJT on Tuesday 25 October at 6pm and on Wednesday 26 October at 2pm and 6pm. Tickets, priced from £10, are available from the box office on 01723 370541 and online at www.sjt.uk.com.