The First Hippo on the Moon – Meet The Cast

Two big hippos. One ENORMOUS dream. Who can make it to the moon first?

3… 2… 1… BLAST OFF!

From number one bestselling children’s author David Walliams comes an explosively funny space adventure for children aged three and above.

The First Hippo on the Moon arrives at the Marina Theatre between April 27-29.

In this article, we find out more about the main characters and the performers involved in the production along with some thoughts from the artistic director and puppet designer.

Shelia is the protagonist of The First Hippo on the Moon. Her dream is to be the first hippo in space and she is helped to achieve her wish by her group of animal friends Tina the Elephant, Joyce the Gorilla and Derek the Ostrich. When she gets to the moon she discovers that her enemy Hercules has already got there before her, but she returns to Earth proclaiming to be the first hippo on the moon.

Hercules Waldorf-Franklin III is the antagonist of The First Hippo on the Moon. He is enormously rich hippo who paid for a gigantic Hippo Space Centre to be built to send him into space. He arrives on the moon at the same time as Shelia, but she returns to Earth in his rocket.

The production, adapted for the stage by acclaimed award winning Theatre company Les Petits, also features an all-star cast.

Dominic Allen trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. His theatre credits include The Crucible and Sleeping Beauty (Bristol Old Vic), Forty Years On and Peter Pan (York Theatre Royal), Fable (Greenwich Theatre) and many others.

Alice Bounce began her career in cabaret and clowning and toured the UK and Europe in an all-female vaudeville clown troupe after completing her Masters in Physical Theatre. Alice’s theatre credits include Dinner at the Twits, Alice’s Adventures Underground, The Marvellous Imaginary Menagerie (Les Enfants Terribles), Treasure Island and many more.

Caroline Bowman is both a performer and puppet-maker who works across theatre and film. Caroline graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama in 2010 and began working with Blind Summit shortly after.

Owen Jenkins trained at The Oxford School of Drama. His theatre credits include The Game’s Afoot (Les Enfants Terribles), 139 Copeland Road (Abbey Normal Theatre), The Marvellous Imaginary Menagerie (Les Enfants Terribles, UK Indoor and Outdoor tour), Goosebumps Alive (The Vaults) and many more.

Rosie Nicholls is a recent graduate of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She is part of the Draft community at Theatre N16 in Balham that develops and stages new writing and is also a member of the Young Artist Lab at Stratford East Theatre Royal, where she was written and performed her new play Solo.

Tony Ross is the illustrator of the book.
Born in London, Tony Ross went to art school in Liverpool and has since worked as a typographer for design and advertising agencies. His cartoons have appeared in famous publications the world over. His first book Hugo and the Wicked Winter was published in 1972. Tony has since written over 100 books and illustrated over 2000!

NICK BARNES – PUPPET DESIGNER
Nick is a puppet designer and maker. He studied drama at Hull University and theatre design at the Slade School of Fine Art. Whilst at the Slade he won a scholarship to travel to France and train with Philippe Genty at the International Institute of the Marionette. There he became fascinated by bunraku style human puppets and in particular the interaction between puppet and puppeteer.

OLIVER LANSLEY – ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF LES PETITS / WRITER
As well as a founder of Les Petits, Oliver is an actor, writer, director and Artistic Director of Les Enfants Terribles, which he founded in 2002.

As an actor he’s best known for playing Kenny Everett in the BAFTA-winning The Best Possible Taste which earned him a Best Actor nomination at the RTS Awards. Other credits include The Wrong Mans, Sherlock and Misfits.

“We were really keen to work on one of David Walliams books as we feel we share the same anarchic sensibilities - he doesn't patronise children which is very refreshing and he's not afraid to be challenging or a bit dark,” Oliver said. “As none of his picture books had been brought to the stage before we decided to start there. There was just something about The First Hippo on the Moon that caught our eye.”

FINN CALDWELL – DIRECTOR AND DESIGNER
Finn is a director, designer and performer; he is co-artistic director of Gyre & Gimble, a theatre company specialising in puppetry.

“Whenever we adapt a book for the stage we try to take as much inspiration from the source material as possible,” he said. “So rather than making changes to David’s novel we have amplified what we found within the book.”

To book tickets for one of the performances, call the box office on 01502 533200 or visit the website.