The Book Thief musical reveals further details and behind-the-scenes look

Picoult commented: "The Book Thief, as a novel, is a blockbuster that has sold over 20 million copies and deeply moved readers all over the world. Having the chance to bring it to life three-dimensionally in a world premiere musical at the Octagon is a dream for us!"

Octagon artistic director and director of The Book Thief, Lotte Wakeham added: "I am absolutely thrilled to be opening our new season with this world premiere brand new musical adaptation of one of my all-time favourite books. Over the last couple of years, we've been busy workshopping the show and I cannot wait for audiences to finally see it! It's an incredibly relevant, moving story and I'm so happy to be staging it in Bolton in our wonderful, newly refurbished theatre.

"I am delighted that we can now announce the brilliant creative team who will be working with me on the production – they are all incredibly talented individuals who have already brought so many fantastic and imaginative ideas to the process. I'm confident that we're going to create a beautiful and timeless piece of musical theatre."

Alongside Wakeham, the show will feature choreography by Tom Jackson Greaves (Amélie), musical direction and orchestrations by Matthew Malone (Coming to England) and design by Good Teeth (aka James Perkins and Victoria Smart – The Winter's Tale).

The production will also feature lighting design by Nic Farman (The Rise and Fall of Little Voice), puppet design by Samuel Wilde (The Fir Tree) and sound design by Andy Graham (The Upstart Crow).

Also part of the project are associate director Georgia Wang Murphy (Cyrano de Bergerac), associate musical director George Strickland (The Regulars), casting director Jacob Sparrow (City of Angels), assistant casting director Olivia Barr (Kes) and production manager Dan Turner (The Ocean at the End of the Lane).

Casting for the production is to be revealed.