Imagine being told to leave your home…imagine American soldiers occupying your house and land…imagine being 12 and angry, with only a cat to tell your secrets to… The next quote comes from Martin Luther King. ‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.’ This was spoken in a Christian sermon in 1957 from Luther King himself. In the play the cat returning home is symbolic of light being brought in to drive out the darkness and horror of war. It shows that through negativity, positivity can shine brightly when it is so unexpected. The cat returning after being lost, (like the soldiers do), is symbolic of light and hope shining through, no matter how dark things become.

Lily razionalizza come può ciò che vive, tenta di guardare il lato positivo, di capire cosa sta succedendo. Sa che c'è la guerra, ma è anche consapevole di essere relativamente al sicuro in casa sua.The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips tells the story of the rehearsed D-Day landings in Devon's Slapton Sands. Based on the book by Michael Morpurgo who is one of the UK's best-loved children's authors, having published over 130 books. His multiple accolades include the Whitbread Children's Book Award, Carnegie Medal and the Red House Children's Book Award. In 2003 he was appointed Children's Laureate. Kneehigh is an energetic theatre group that has brought life and energy to many a work. Director Emma Rice has excelled in making her piece, ‘946 The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips.’ The inspiration for the story comes from Devon. Mixed with the D Day (Normandy) rehearsals of the landing of the American troupes, in opposition to a local farming family having to move from their home with the loss of their much loved missing cat. The Americans came inland but there was a mishap with communications and German U-boats torpedoed the Americans in an exercise called, Operation Tiger, 25 th April 1944.

Soon, the whole area is out of bounds, as the Allied forces practise their landings for D-day, preparing to invade France. But Tips, Lily's adored cat, has other ideas – barbed wire and keep-out signs mean nothing to her, nor does the danger of guns and bombs. Frantic to find her, Lily makes friends with two young American soldiers, who promise to help her. But will she ever see her cat again? Lily decides to cross the wire into the danger zone to look for Tips herself… From the first sentence of a Michael Morpurgo book, you know you are in the hands of a natural storyteller.” Guardian Based on Michael Morpurgo’s novella The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, 946 explodes everything we thought we knew about the D-Day landings. With the kind of storytelling sorcery Kneehigh is famous for, 946 uses live music, dance and puppetry to tell this story of war, prejudice and love. At once, tender, political and romantic, this production speaks to all ages, revealing the secrets the US and British government tried to keep quiet. It is a little predictable in places however you have to remember it is a children’s book so there’s only so much complexity the story can have so please be prepared for some parts which you may be able to see how they are going to plan out – just remember it is supposed to be for young childrenThe story begins with Boowie, who is Lily’s grandson, she is telling Boowie the story of an eventful year in her childhood in the form of a letter and old entries from her childhood diary. Boowie receives this letter after Lily has gone away on a mysterious trip following the death of Boowie’s grandfather. Lily tells the story from just before her 12th birthday; her father has joined the army and gone away to war and she lives with her mum and grandfather on their family’s farm with her beloved cat Tips. Before long all sorts of thing begin to change in Lily’s life, not just her father going away: an evacuee called Barry comes to live with them, everyone in the village and surrounding villages are evacuated; making the whole south coast a training ground for American and British troops to practise beach landings and poor Tips goes missing. Amidst all this upheaval Lily meets Adolphus T. Madison, ‘Adie’ for short. He promises to find Lily’s cat and Lily feels her first pangs of innocent unrequited love. The story also contains a surprise at the end, so as Grandma Lily tells Boowie in her letter – no peaking or you’ll spoil the surprise! Mi è piaciuto molto, l'ho trovato accurato, per nulla pesante o faticoso da leggere ma con quel tipico rigore storico che lo rende perturbante.

The play is a heartfelt piece of work and pinpoints a difficult part of history. As Angelou points out, up until now, an untold story inside someone. It shows out of despair can come hopefulness and the will to carry on. Michael Morpurgo discovered his talent for writing while working as a teacher. “We had to read the children a story every day and my lot were bored by the book I was reading. I decided I had to do something and told them the kind of story I used to tell my kids – it was like a soap opera, and they focused on it. I could see there was magic in it for them, and realised there was magic in it for me.” Something’s up. Something big too, very big. At school, in the village, whoever you meet, it’s all anyone talks about. It’s like a sudden curse has come down on us all. It makes me wonder if we’ll ever see the sun again.” For more information about the work of Farms for City Children, please visit www.farmsforcitychildren.org All'inizio credevo fosse la storia di una bambina, Lily, che continua a perdere il suo gatto, ma poi si è dimostrato un racconto totalmente diverso, per certi versi duro e crudo, ambientato durante la seconda guerra mondiale in un paesino dell'Inghilterra.The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips by Michael Morpurgo is yet another children's classic from this prolific author. Perfect for your KS2 Second World War topic! In this book we follow a young girl called Lily and her family around the time of WWII, their town has to be evacuated so that the army can train in their village. However when they move Lily’s cat Tips goes missing and may be somewhere in the village. Will Lily find her before its too late? Cast: Nandi Bhebhe, Emma Darlow, Ncuti Gatwa, Kyla Goodey, Chris Jared, Katy Owen, Mike Shepherd, Adam Sopp, Akpore Uzoh and Ewan Wardrop. Anche se la storia potrebbe sembrarvi per bambini, rimanete con me, perchè Lo sbarco di Tips non è solo per bambini ma facilmente adattabile anche agli adulti. Something's up. Something big too, very big. At school, in the village, whoever you meet, it's all anyone talks about. It's like a sudden curse has come down on us all. It makes me wonder if we'll ever see the sun again."

A son and grandson of actors, Michael has acting in his blood and enjoys collaborating and performing live adaptations of his books at festivals, concerts and theatres. Set in the village of Slapton on the south coast of England during the Second World War, this story from master storyteller Morpurgo tells the tale of Lily Tregenza and how she, her family and her cat cope with rationing, evacuation, hope and grief. It is a charming tale with a gentle pace told in the form of a child’s diary. una storia di vita quotidiana di una bimba e delle sue avventure nel ritrovare un gatto particolarmente votato a scappare, della prima volta che si scontra con la morte -animale e umana-, degli incontri che fa con gente straniera ma che poi si rivela avere molto in comune con la gente del posto. Lo sbarco di Tips" ci aiuta a comprendere la vita di una bambina costretta a lasciare la sua casa insieme alla sua famiglia e possiamo solo immaginare quanto sia orribile. La fortuna della protagonista è avere qualcuno che le sta al fianco e che la ama incondizionatamente. Anche se sono lontani dalle loro cose materiali, non lo sono dai loro affetti. Penso che non ci sia cosa più importante. Then the Americans come bringing diversity, difference, change and energy to the piece. They bring dance and song, in collaboration with the band. On the front of the stage set up, on a level with the audience, there are many old-fashioned steal bath tubs. In the bath tubs are big boats and cruisers. When the war starts, the bath tubs are targeted with fire and things that smash in to the water disrupting the boats stability.Now, many years later, as Michael is reading his Grandma Lily's diary, he learns about The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips – and wonders how one adventurous cat could still affect their lives sixty years later. About This Edition ISBN: