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Since John Hole commissioned me to write THE TINDERBOX (unpublished, unsurprisingly, to be honest!) for the Swan Theatre, Worcester in 1967, I have written between fifty and sixty plays. They fall into three main categories
ORIGINAL PLAYSThe ORIGINAL PLAYS including THE GINGERBREAD MAN, THE PAPERTOWN PAPERCHASE, HIJACK OVER HYGENIA and NUTCRACKER SWEET, are often fantasy-based. THE GINGERBREAD MAN features characters like Salt, Pepper and The Old Teabag, who live on a kitchen dresser. THE PAPERTOWN PAPERCHASE uses a Beauty and the Beast theme to tell the story of a fight between the inhabitants of Papertown and the Land of Fire. HIJACK OVER HYGENIA depicts the cleanest kingdom in the world when attacked by Measlygerms. NUTCRACKER SWEET is set in a world “peopled” by nuts. The lives of Kernel Walnut, Old Ma Coconut, Hazel and William the Conker are threatened by the arrival of the Chocolate Squirter, in search of nuts for his high-class confectionery. Some of the original plays are environmental. In THE PLOTTERS OF CABBAGE PATCH CORNER, garden insects face uncertainty when the human Big Ones use anti-insect spray. THE SELFISH SHELLFISH depicts the dilemma of rock pool creatures facing pollution from an oil slick. THE SEE-SAW TREE looks at conservation from the point of view of the creatures living on an ancient oak tree endangered by a supermarket development. Most of the original plays feature creative audience participation. Some of them are musicals. ADAPTATIONSRoald Dahl, Philippa Pearce and Dick King-Smith are some of the distinguished children’s authors I have been lucky enough to adapt. The classic titles include THE BFG, THE WITCHES, TOM’S MIDNIGHT GARDEN and BABE, THE SHEEP-PIG. For younger children there are adaptations of NODDY (Enid Blyton), SPOT (Eric Hill) and MEG AND MOG (Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski). All these stories I have tried to translate from page to stage faithfully and with theatrical flair. PANTOMIME SUBSTITUTESMy “PANTOMIME SUBSTITUTES” have been mainly created for the annual pantomime slot. Some are original versions of classic stories, some are new stories featuring well-known characters. All of them have in common an action-packed plot, tuneful music, humour and a creative use of audience participation. Animals feature strongly, as children (and adults) relate strongly to animal characters. Sometimes they are constructed to include an optional chorus of adults or children. The plays are produced professionally all over the world. In the UK there are many amateur productions too. Schools use them in their ‘Literacy Hour’ as well as perform them as school plays. I have recently written adaptations especially for schools, such as (for Puffin Books), THE BFG PLAYS, THE WITCHES PLAYS and THE TWITS PLAYS. And I have adapted Michael Foreman’s DINOSAURS AND ALL THAT RUBBISH and Ronda and David Armitage’s THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER'S LUNCH for large numbers of children working with two adult actors. In all my plays there is a determination not to patronise children, rather to emotionally involve them in a strong and fast-moving storyline. They offer opportunities for imaginative set, costume and lighting design, for special effects and, sometimes, puppetry. They all have “lots of suddenlies…”. A Canadian children’s book publisher, with whom I was once interviewed on television, when trying to explain what works for children, told how her own daughter, aged 8, put down a book, saying how much she had enjoyed it. “Why?” asked her mother, mainly out of professional interest. “Lots of suddenlies” came her daughter’s reply. It’s been my motto ever since.
Details of the plays, in alphabetical order, can be found below. A brief history, synopsis and cast requirements are given, plus press reviews and publishing and performing rights information.
CHILDREN’S PLAYS AND MUSICALS BY DAVID WOOD
General : List of plays and musicals - David Wood – May 2005
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Presenting theatre for children as a separate art form, David Wood draws upon his experiences as a magician, actor, director, producer, composer and playwright, and analyses the skills involved in entertaining and involving audiences of children everywhere. 
Thank you for your time and efforts, and for serving as a mentor from afar through your book.
