Michael Morpurgo’s story is based on an actual event when a Russian man saved books from a burning library during the war.
It has been adapted for the stage by Danyah Miller who tells the tale of Tom, a young boy who doesn’t read until introduced to the magical properties of books.
On a stage piled high with books apparently rescued from the fire, she engages with her young audience from the very beginning, opening books to reveal pop up characters and buildings – including an entire village – as well as unfolding pages to create screens for charming little videos.
Literally conjuring images out of the books themselves, she draws us into the story that darkens when her village is burnt to the ground and Tom and his father rescue as many books from the library as they can.
Assisted by sound effects and lighting (the fire is scarily realistic), Miller delivers a one-woman show that is pure storytelling, pure theatre and pure magic.

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I Believe in Unicorns, Apollo Theatre until August 12, then UK Tour until October 20. Tickets: 0330 333 4809 (danyamillerstoryteller.co.uk)