David Walliams' best-selling book Gangsta Granny coming to the Sunderland stage

Gangsta Granny has been given a theatre makeover and is heading for the Sunderland Empire next year.

The show has been transformed by Birmingham Stage Company, the people behind acclaimed productions of Horrible Histories, George’s Marvellous Medicine and Tom’s Midnight Garden.

Gangsta Granny will come to the Empire, in High Street West, from May 10 to 14, prior to a West End run.

Walliams, who is one of the judges on the popular Britain’s Got Talent TV show and creator of the ground-breaking comedy series, Little Britain, is now the best-selling author for children in the country.

He began his publishing career at Harper Collins in early 2008 with his debut novel The Boy in the Dress. Then, after writing two other popular stories, in 2011 he published Gangsta Granny, which was shortlisted for both The Red House Children’s Book Award and for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize.

At Christmas 2013, a TV version of Gangsta Granny was shown on BBC One with an all-star cast including Walliams himself. Gangsta Granny went straight to number one in the children’s book charts and his books have been translated into around 30 languages.

In the book, it’s Friday night and Ben knows that means only one thing – staying with Granny. There will be cabbage soup, cabbage pie and cabbage cake and Ben knows one thing for sure – it’s going to be so boring.

But what Ben doesn’t know is that Granny has a secret – and Friday nights are about to get more exciting than he could ever imagine, as he embarks on the adventure of a lifetime with his very own Gangsta Granny.

Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday, July 22 to ATG TheatreCard holders, and on general sale at 10am on Monday, July 25.