Wintry Tales

Two weird and wonderful short plays about Christmas for children aged 7-11, conceived by award-winning writers Rory Mullarkey and Lisette Auton, who worked to co-create each piece with contributions by schoolchildren from select primary schools across the North East of England.

Two plays made up of ten short stories that bring together the wild imaginations of school children with major writers from the North East of England. Based on the pioneering Live Tales creative writing model at Live Theatre in Newcastle, placing children’s authorship at the centre of the creative process, Wintry Tales offers a series of brilliant, alternative takes on the Christmas story.

A mysterious bout of snowfall in ASDA
A wizard detective with a love of hot chocolate
A lonely polar bear seeking another sharp-toothed friend
An elf kickstarting a worker’s revolution

Simple in form but deliciously rich in ideas, these explosive dramatic works can be performed by just two actors on either a packed or empty stage. It’s all about the words! And the outrageous ideas behind them…

The perfect book for anyone seeking an alternative Christmas offering, whether to read, perform or watch live onstage.

Rory Mullarkey is one of the UK’s leading playwrights with a major body of work that spans The National Theatre, The Globe, The Royal Court Theatre and beyond.

Lisette Auton is a hugely prominent disabled writer, and author of the major books for children The Secret of Haven Point, The Stickleback Catchers, and Lights Up.