I knew I was taking a bit of a risk writing Hetty Feather. I'm known for my contemporary stories about modern issues. I wasn't sure all my readers would like a slightly more challenging story about a Victorian foundling child. I liked my Hetty, and admired her spirit and creativity, and even the temper that matched her bright red hair, but I wasn't sure anyone else would.
I was thrilled when Hetty Feather became a huge success. I was of course delighted when Novel Theatre said they wanted to produce Hetty as a stage show. I've known the team since we met at their lovely production of Carrie's War. They approached Emma Reeves to do the script, and that pleased me too, because Emma's a prolifically successful writer for stage and screen, including the Tracy Beaker TV series. I was awed when I heard Sally Cookson was going to be the director. I'd seen her amazing reviews for her innovative and imaginative stage plays, most recently Jane Eyre.
So, I had a cracking team, with Kenny Wax and William Archer and my wonderful local Rose theatre adding their clout to the production. The most important question was: who was going to play my Hetty? I felt as proprietorial as any mother. I wanted someone who could show her vulnerability as well as her feistiness and her charm even when behaving outrageously. I wanted an adult who could play a small girl with conviction and satisfy all the readers who have taken Hetty to their hearts.
Well, the moment I met slight, spirited Phoebe Thomas I knew she was born to play Hetty – and she's got a wonderful pre-Raphaelite mane of natural red hair to boot. The rest of the cast play their socks off too: Matt Costain swapping from the charismatic older brother Jem to the terrifyingly austere Matron Bottomly with a flip of an apron; Sarah Goddard swapping effortlessly from the homely country foster mother to the protective Foundling maid – and then taking her turn as a foundling child too.
Paul Mundell plays the difficult part of the timid Gideon until the audience is in tears; Isaac Stanmore is marvellous as the plaintive Saul; and Nikki Warwick is fantastic and incredibly gymnastic as the mysterious, talented Madame Adeline. All the cast display their circus skills to perfection, and the live musicians create the perfect aural accompaniment.
The play sticks to my basic story, but with many inventive touches that constantly took me by surprise. I sound as if I'm burbling. Well, I am. I went to the first night on Saturday and I hardly slept when I went home because I was so excited. Hetty has always been real to me, but she's been inside my head or down on the page. Seeing the stage version alongside hundreds of children on the edges of their seats was a magical experience. She became totally real to all of us. I can't wait to go again.
