WOSSNAME

Transworld will publish Paul Kidby's Designing Terry Pratchett’s Discworld on 7th November 2024.

'Written and illustrated by Paul Kidby, Sir Terry Pratchett’s artist of choice for many years, the book is described by the publisher as “an incredible celebration of Discworld art and a brilliant homage to the decades-long collaboration between Paul and Terry... it will take readers behind the scenes of one of the great creative partnerships and is packed with unseen art and the real stories behind it.'

Rob Wilkins said: 'I’m privileged to have been at the creative coalface with not one but two incredible minds, seeing Discworld’s creatures and characters come to life. Terry always considered Paul’s work the definitive embodiment of his vision, and this book gives us a unique window into the creative process of a wildly talented artist who defined Discworld not only for Terry, but for generations.'

To read the full announcement from The Bookseller, go to:

https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/transworld-acquires-designing-terry-pratchetts-discworld

Speaking of last hurrahs...

The countdown has begun!

The end of the Bakehouse Theatre is nigh, but hopefully this won't be the end of the wonderful Unseen Theatre company, Fourecks' oldest and most dedicated stagers of Discworld plays. In the meantime, here's an opportunity to thank the Bakehouse gang in person, and to possibly snaffle some Discly treasures.

Here be Unseen stalwart Pamela Munt with the news:

Hi All,

I am sure that you will all have heard this already, but our "home" for our Pratchett Plays is gone! Bakehouse Theatre's lease expires on 31st May and our new landlords are not renewing it. They want to use the building for their own purposes.

We have not yet worked out quite what this means for our company, but it will certainly not be the same! We may decide to hire a new theatre but we simply don't know yet because Granny Weatherwax is so busy sorting out the Bakehouse "retirement", that she has not had time to consider this at her leisure. We hope to get back to you as soon as we sort out how to stop her from flying around the Disc to turn back time.

Meanwhile the Bakehouse Theatre is holding an auction to send some of both its and Unseen's beloved bits and pieces only because we now have nowhere to store them. Come and have a browse and bid on whichever ones take your fancy. Not the least of these is Nanny Ogg's stocks from Wyrd Sisters. What a wonderful way to welcome your guests at home!

AUCTION WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY 25TH MAY AT 11.30AM

THEATRE WILL BE OPEN AT 9.30AM FOR YOUR PERUSAL

* * *

Bakehouse Theatre
255 Angas Street
Adelaide 5000
South Australia
08 8227 0505

A useful page about how to get there and other details:

https://www.bakehousetheatre.com/about/visiting-us-map-and-info


* * *

Unseen Theatre's FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Performance-Art-Theatre/Unseen-Theatre-Company-346889855342778/


Wossname wishes the Unseen Theatre Company 1) a future and 2) a good future, full of Discworld plays. May the gods of Cori Celesti smile upon them!

Hands up who remembers Mr Sideney, the wizardly locksmith in Sky TV's famous adaptation of Hogfather? Or the equally wizardly Arch Astronomer of Krull in Sky's equally famous adaptation of The Colour of Magic?

How about the chap who voiced all those Discworld audiobooks - twenty-one of them, to be precise? And provided the voice of the Auditors in the aforementioned Hogfather telly-film?

That's right, it's UK comedy legend Nigel Planer, beloved for almost forty years for iconic roles including Neil of The Young Ones, David Castle of King and Castle, Ralph Filthy of Filthy Rich and Catflap, Blackadder the Third's Lord Smedley, and many others not to mention years of superb work in many roles for The Comic Strip Presents.

Here be a few of those roles, to tickle your memories:

Mr Planer has also written a number of plays and books. Which brings us to today's subject:

A WIZARD WANTS YOUR HELP!!!

To quote the man himself: "I've written a time-travel comedy book which is currently crowd funding with the publisher Unbound. It's called Jeremiah Bourne in Time and is a new and sideways look at time travelling, with many eccentric characters. I'm hoping to put the word out to people who I reckon will like it. There are many homages to Sir T inside."

Jeremiah Bourne in Time is already a third of the way to meeting the necessary total, so would you like to join the legions of Discworld fans and pitch in a few Ankh-Morpork dollars (or your local Roundworld currency) to help it along? Of course you would! So...

CLICK HERE for the link to the Unbound crowdfunding page!

The page includes an explanatory/promotional video which I promise you is well worth watching! Not least because as wonderful a job Paul Kaye did a few years ago representing Sir Terry himself in the BBC documentary Terry Pratchett: Back in Black, Nigel Planer channels The Author even more eerily in the above promo. Must be the influence of voicing all those Discworld books...

So yes, please do trot along to the page and support Jeremiah Bourne in Time. Your Editor already has done - and is quite certain that were Sir Terry still with us, he'd have been among the first to do so!

p.s. Wossname will resume regular publication next week. Plenty of news to share...

Tweeted by Maria Castrillo, head of Special Collections & Engagement at Senate House Library: "Next Tuesday 17 November we are hosting an In Conversation event with neilhimself terryandrob and rhipratchett***. If you haven't been able to get a free ticket you can still join as we will be livestreaming it." Details here:

www.youtube.com/channel/UCRtcidMSFg2I9K6fE3XdWvA

* for non-tweeters, that's Neil Gaiman, Rob Wilkins and Rhianna Pratchett

Grasmere Players' Christmas play is Wyrd Sisters!

When: tonight through 14th December
Venue: Grasmere Hall, Broadgate, Grasmere CUMBRIA, Grasmere, LA22 9TA
Time: 7.30pm all evening shows; 2.30pm matinee on the 14th
Tickets: £10 (children and students £5), available from Barneys Newsbox at Grasmere (phone 015394 35627) and on the door



(photo: Westmorland Gazette)

Alsager Community Theatre are staging their production of Wyrd Sisters this week!

"It looks as if someone has cast a spell over local award-winning amateur theatre group, Alsager Community Theatre, and we have allowed first time director, Steve White, to dive into the uncharted waters of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld... Steve tells us 'I’ve been reading the Discworld novels since last century and I’ve even performed in two Discworld plays as a nearly dead wizard and a troll. Perfect qualifications to direct any play. I’m also thrilled to be working at ACT with an enthusiastic cast of new and established faces. We are confident that audiences will enjoy an excellent and entertaining evening.'"

When: 20th-23rd November 2019
Venue: St Mary’s Church, Crewe Road, Alsager, Cheshire ST7 2EW
Time: 7.30pm all shows
Tickets: £8 (£7 for under 21s). They are available from 1 st November by phoning 01260 276165 or 07845 102111 or from the Alsager Library (open 9am-5pm weekdays, phone 01270 375325).

https://alsagercommunitytheatre.org.uk/current-production/
https://twitter.com/AlsagerTheatre

.

Colwick Theatre Club’s Autumn Production this year is Mort!

When: 31st October–2nd November 2019
Venue: Colwick Community Centre, Vale Road, Colwick Village, Notts NG4 2GP
Time: 7:30pm all shows
Tickets: £5 (concessions and children £4), available by ringing 0750 729 9526

.

LORDS AND LADIES IN (ANOTHER SUBURB OF) PERTH, FOURECKS

Roleystone Theatre are presenting their production of Lords and Ladies, as adapted by Irana Brown, starting this week! "The Lancre witches, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, are the Discworld’s only hope of rescue when elves threaten to take control with their hypnotic 'glamour'. Standing stones; wizards; Morris men and Rude Mechanicals; country lore and ancient magic: all these are elements of this hilarious, fast-moving and exciting adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s well-loved novel."

When: tomorrow (5th July) through 13th July 2019
Venue: Roleystone Hall, 44 Jarrah Rd, Roleystone 6111, Western Australia
Time: all evening shows (5th-6th, 11th-13th 7.3opm; matinees (6th, 13th) 2pm
Tickets: adults AU$20, concessions $15, available online at https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=510123&

https://roleystonetheatre.com.au/

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is coming to the big screen! This will be the first feature film adaptation of any of Sir Pterry's books (Wyrd Sisters and Soul Music being telly adaptations).

Here be an extract from the official Narrativia announcement. he Narrativia announcement. Please note that at least one of the primary people involved with this apparently don't even know the name of one of the main characters in this film-to-be:

"On the heels of the launch of the new hit Amazon Prime series ‘Good Omens’ ULYSSES FILMPRODUKTION and CANTILEVER MEDIA announced today the development of a new animated family film, “The Amazing Maurice” based on one of Sir Terry Pratchett’s wildly popular “Discworld” novels, which have sold more than 90 million books worldwide. The screenplay is written by award winning writer Terry Rossio (Shrek, Aladdin, Pirates of the Caribbean), with the character designs by Carter Goodrich (Ratatouille, The Croods, Brave)...

"Emely Christians, Producer and CEO of Ulysses Filmproduktion commented: '"If you don’t turn your life into a story, you become part of someone else’s story," says Melissa[sic], the young female lead in The Amazing Maurice. I loved the way Melissa presented her attitude to life in this one sentence. When I read it, I knew we had to turn this amazing novel into an amazing film. The Amazing Maurice will be the first animated feature film ever made from a Terry Pratchett novel. It will get Ulysses’ complete focus and attention to detail to fulfil our promise: to make a wonderful movie from this very funny, unique, strong and awesome story.'...

"Rob Wilkins, Executive Producer and Managing Director of Narrativia, said: 'At some point in the late nineties I sat at the polished bar in the Palace Hotel San Francisco enjoying a bottle of local beer with Terry Pratchett. It had been a long day and neither of us had yet eaten and we were less than interested in the baseball game playing loudly on the TV hanging above us. However, we were both very interested in the sixteen foot wide Maxfield Parrish painting of the Pied Piper of Hamelin hanging proudly behind the bar, where it had been on display since 1909. “He does beautiful skies,” said Terry. And, yes, he really did and I agreed, but Terry seemed lost in the painting and so I finished my beer and ordered another. By the time it arrived Terry had sketched out the plot for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents and had played it directly into my brain like a mini movie. They were indeed broad strokes, but the story was there and he had already named Malicia, Peaches, Sardines and – to his great delight – Darktan. That was the genius of Terry Pratchett; he could see stories everywhere. And now he would be delighted with the character designs of Carter Goodrich. Bringing this story to life was so important to Terry and it upsets me that he won’t get to see the finished film, but the teams at Ulysses Filmproduktion and Cantilever Media are honouring his vision and I am absolutely delighted'..."

To read the entire announcement online, go to:

http://narrativia.com/maurice.html

From Stewart Clarke, on Variety:

"The Discworld novel, the 28th in the series and the first for children, has been optioned by Germany-based Ulysses Filmproduktion, which will make the film alongside Ireland’s Cantilever Media. U.S. writer Terry Rossio, whose extensive credits include “Shrek,” “Aladdin,” and “Pirates of the Caribbean,” has written the screenplay. Carter Goodrich, who worked on “Ratatouille” and “Brave,” is on board for character design. Toby Genkel (“Ooops! Noah Is Gone…”) is attached to direct the €15 million ($17 million) movie... Cantilever Media CEO Andrew Baker, who produced Netflix’s “Robozuna,” told Variety that the project has been in development for several years after Ulysses optioned the book. The team is now looking to raise the last part of the financing and, with a script and character designs in hand, is ready to go into production at the end of the year. The plan is for the comedy-action-adventure movie to be ready for release in early 2022. “Terry Rossio’s screenplay twists and turns and produces an unexpected yet heartwarming ending, with Carter Goodrich’s designs bringing these characters to life in their own unique style, which I’m sure audiences will love,” Baker said. The script and tone of the film will be “very Terry Pratchett, very true to his vision,” but different from the characters seen on the book jacket he added..."

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/terry-pratchett-discworld-the-amazing-maurice-movie-terry-rossio-carter-goodrich-1203239220/

...and a selection of the rest:

https://comicbook.com/movies/2019/06/11/discworld-animated-film-terry-pratchett/
https://www.thebookseller.com/news/pratchetts-amazing-maurice-adapted-animation-1022366
https://www.awn.com/news/sir-terry-pratchetts-amazing-maurice-being-turned-animated-feature
https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/terry-pratchett-maurice-bill-ted-phone-booth-toy-story-4
http://www.darkhorizons.com/pratchetts-amazing-maurice-gets-adapted/
https://www.moviefone.com/2019/06/11/terry-pratchetts-the-amazing-maurice-is-becoming-an-animated-film/
https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/06/terry-pratchetts-first-discworld-book-for-kids-is-being-turned-into-an-animated-movie/
https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2019/06/terry-pratchetts-the-amazing-maurice-in-development-as-animated-movie/
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/the-amazing-maurice-and-his-educated-rodents-by-terry-pratchett-to-be-adapted-into-an-animated-film/articleshow/69787654.cms
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/terry-pratchetts-the-amazing-maurice-and-his-educated-rodents-is-being-developed-into-an-animated-feature-175572.html

From Snowgum Films:

"YES, YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT! Our North American cinematic Discworld debut will occur this May the 25th, right here at Mammoth Lakes Film Festival:

https://mammothlakesfilmfest2019.eventive.org/schedule

"And honestly, we can’t think of a better way of celebrating the day than watching a Moving Picture just a drive away from Holy Wood."

Tickets: https://mammothlakesfilmfest2019.eventive.org/films/5cc4eef23b8ac500350c44ff/5cc680fa134e360035c5886d

https://twitter.com/snowgumfilms/status/1125560543501152264