The musical stage adaptation, based on the best-selling novel by Markus Zusak, returns to the stage following a premiere at the Curve Theatre, Leicester, in 2023.
Melanie La Barrie. Headshot provided by production.
The Book Thief will receive a special concert performance at the Prince of Wales Theatre on 19 October 2025, with Melanie La Barrie (Mary Page Marlowe, Hadestown) starring as Death.
Further casting to be announced.
Brought to the stage by award-winning best-selling author Jodi Picoult (My Sister's Keeper & Small Great Things) and Timothy Allen McDonald (adaptor of Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka & James and the Giant Peach), The Book Thief features music and lyrics by Kate Anderson and Elyssa Samsel (Apple TV’s Central Park & Olaf's Frozen Adventure).
On this London concert performance writers Jodi Picoult & Timothy Allen McDonald said: “We couldn’t be prouder to present this new, gorgeous incarnation of THE BOOK THIEF in London. As Americans, we are very much aware of how quickly fascism can take hold of a country — this show is the right story, at exactly the right time. To have Melanie La Barrie leading the company as Death, our narrator, is a dream — her immense talent and experience has given us so many colours we writers can paint with.”
Told by Death, The Book Thief is set in Nazi Germany and follows Liesel Meminger, a young girl who finds solace in stealing books and sharing them, even as the horrors and reality of war unfold around her. It's a story about the power of words and human resilience, with Liesel's relationships with her foster family and a hidden Jewish man being hugely significant.
