Malory Towers by Wise Children: dates and details announced

Wise Children, the company Emma Rice set up after she left Shakespeare's Globe, is to open it's second production in July, it has been confirmed.

Malory Towers, which was originally announced as part of the Bristol Old Vic's season, is the second production undertaken by the new company, following the inaugural Wise Children.

Malory Towers is a stage adaptation of Enid Blyton's hit series of novels, which are set in a girl's boarding school. The six novels follows the pupils and teachers of the Cornish school, which is situated on a cliff top in Cornwall.

The production is co-produced with York Theatre Royal, in association with the Bristol Old Vic, and will open at the Passenger Shed in Bristol on 18 July, before touring to Cambridge, York, Exeter, Manchester and finishing in Oxford on 5 October.

The production will be adapted and directed by Rice and is officially licensed by Enid Blyton Entertainment. Spokesperson Karen Lawler said: "Enid Blyton created incredible female characters at Malory Towers: strong, capable and always, always kind. ‘Women the world can lean on,' in Enid's own words. We share Emma's passion for these characters and we couldn't be more excited to see Emma's vision of Malory Towers come to life."

Rice commented: "I call it my Happy Lord of the Flies and it is joyfully radical to its bones. Imagine a world where (left to their own devices), people choose kindness. Imagine a world where difference is respected and arguments resolved with thought and care. Imagine a world that chooses community, friendship and fun. Now that's a world I want to live in and, at Malory Towers, you can!"