Hard act to follow

How do writers adapt children's classics for stage?

- Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent

From Paddington and The BFG to The Gruffalo’s Child, My Neighbour Totoro to The Tiger Who Came to Tea, there is no shortage of stage adaptations of children’s classics filling theatres.

This week it was announced that Dog Man, the half-canine crimefighter from Dav Pilkey’s bestselling graphic novels, will make his London theatre debut at the Southbank Centre next year.

Pilkey, who created the series, said the musical - adapted by Kevin Del Aguila and previously a sellout off-Broadway - “surpassed my highest expectations”. But how do writers reanimate cherished characters in a new medium?

“When I was commissioned to adapt Dog Man my son was in 4th grade and extremely well-versed in the books, so it was incredibly helpful to have a young expert at the breakfast table every morning,” Del Aguila told the Guardian.

The Emmy-winning writer and actor, whose credits include stage versions of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Click Clack Moo and Cat Kid Comic Club, said for him, “it all comes down to tone”.