Emil and the Detectives, National Theatre

In 1933, Eric Kastner watched his books being consumed by flames in a public book-burning frenzy attended by Hitler’s minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels. Fast-forward 80 years, and the German author’s best-known book - and the only one to escape Nazi censorship - has arrived at the National Theatre, all set to delight young audiences as its new family production. 

And it won’t just be children in the audience. For the first time in the National Theatre’s history, child actors are playing the lead roles. Toby Murray, 12, who was in the original Stratford cast of Matilda, Ethan Hanner, 11, who has starred in Billy Elliot, and first-timer Daniel Patten, 12, share the role of Emil. One hundred and fifty children recruited from London boroughs, schools and theatre groups rotate as the 50-strong ensemble of children on stage at any one time.

In a story reaching back to the Weimar period, Emil and the Detectives offers a fascinating glimpse of Berlin before the Nazis and World War II. The Olivier stage is to be transformed into 1920s Berlin, where 12-year-old Emil Tischbein embarks on his life-changing journey. After being robbed on the train, he feels he has lost everything, but when he starts tracking down the thief, he discovers he’s not alone in the big city after all. 

We are excited about this production, adapted by Carl Miller, former artistic director of the Young People’s programme at the Royal Court, and directed by National Theatre associate director Bijan Sheibani. The staging of this straightforward tale, loved by generations of readers, of a boy learning to rely on himself and his friends, is one not to miss.