SUSAN, BILL AND THE FORGOTTEN PROMISE (Red River Theatre)****

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npQLouHZjUA 

Available until: Unknown

A lot of people wonder what will happen to their favourite fictional characters after the end of the book. That’s why a lot of people like to write fanfiction. Some people look down on fanfiction a bit because people aren’t creating their own characters, but I think the ability to write someone else’s characters shows a different kind of creativity because they are able to use their imaginations within someone else’s limits. It’s also a compliment to the original book that we are still thinking about what happens to the characters long after we read the last page.

Some characters like The Famous Five were still happily solving mysteries and attending boarding school in their twenties (though perhaps they are all at medical school, training to be doctors) and the fans would be happy for them to keep doing that forever, though someone did recently write a series of books about an older Famous Five. But sometimes you wonder about what will happen when these characters grow up. (Or what will happen to them later on, if they’re grown up already.)

The Susan and Bill series was written by Malcolm Saville. I hadn’t heard of it until I listened to this audio play, but I think I’d probably really like them. They both seem like nice people who care about each other and have a lot of exciting adventures. I’m not sure how typical this story is – there is a flashback to an adventure they had together which I think is an original adventure – but I really enjoyed it a lot.

I’m not sure who wrote it as I can’t find a credit, but it’s a very interesting story which is very engaging. I feel like I know Susan, Bill, their friend John and the other characters. The adventure which happened in the past has exactly the right feel for a 1950s adventure story, but at the same time, it doesn’t feel old-fashioned. I also like the way the action moves between the past and the present.

The story is told in a mixture of monologues and scenes. Chelsie Faulks instantly draws you in with Susan’s first monologue, which tells you about how she first met Bill and the friendship that developed. Peter Smith shows some of Bill’s fun personality even when he’s feeling hopeless. In the flashbacks, Telina Aljahazi and Josh Darby make Young Susan and Young Bill sound like really nice people and a lot of fun. Luke Stevenson as their third friend John seems completely part of the group and not a sort of platonic gooseberry, and Lucy Clarke and Bronwyn Hunt are brilliant as a pair of 1950s mean girls.

I really enjoyed listening to this and I’d be interested to try one of the Susan and Bill books. It’s probably aimed at younger children, but I read children’s books to my younger siblings and I enjoy most of them. I think a lot of authors probably try to appeal to older siblings as well because we’ll often be reading them aloud.