The Book Thief: A Concert Production

About The Book Thief: A Concert Production

Red. White. Black.

These are the colours by which Death remembers.

And the colours of a girl who dared to write her story in the ruins.

The Book Thief is told by Death – they are haunted by humans, cataloguing the colour of the sky at the precise moment they carry each soul away.

Tonight’s story belongs to Liesel Meminger, twelve years old and unafraid to take what matters: the red of a book found in the snow, the black of a novel rescued from a bonfire, the white of empty pages she will fill with her own defiant words.

Down in a cellar painted in shadows, she reads to Max, a Jewish fist-fighter hidden by her foster family, and together they imagine a world lit by language. Above, Hans plays the accordion with fingers stained by tobacco and time, Rosa hurls curses wrapped in warmth, and Rudy runs beside Liesel, chasing a kiss that history won’t allow.

With a libretto by bestselling author Jodi Picoult and Timothy Allen McDonald, and a soaring score by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson, The Book Thief transforms Markus Zusak’s modern classic in 'the perfect page to stage adaptation' (Theatre and Tonic ★★★★★), 'a creative and theatrical adaptation of a powerful story' (British Theatre Guide), and 'a show that will steal your heart' (WhatsOnStage ★★★★★).

Full cast:

Melanie La Barrie - Death
Isaac Gryn - Max Vandenburg
Jack Lord - Hans Hubermann
Cat Simmons - Rosa Hubermann
Leo Abad - Tommy Müller & Others
Matthew Caputo - Walter Kugler & Others
Oonagh Cox - Paula Meminger & Others
Michal Horowicz - Eva Vandenburg & Others
Thomas-Lee Kidd - Mayor Hermann & Others
Nell Martin - Ilsa Herman & Others
Corinna Powlesland - Frau Holtzapfel & Others
Gleanne Puercell-Brown - Barbara Steiner & Others
Edwin Ray - Alex Steiner & Others
Timo Tatzber - Isaac Kleinmann & Others
Russell Wilcox - Wolfgang Edel & Others

Here, books burn, but stories survive.
Here, memory sings.
Here, kindness is rebellion.

Red. White. Black.
The colours of war.
The colours of memory.
The colours of a girl who held onto hope.