West End theatre producers, Deus Ex Machina Productions, have announced a special concert performance of the musical stage adaptation, The Book Thief, based on the best-selling novel by Markus Zusak. The musical had its world premiere at the Octagon Theatre Bolton 2022, and this special performance will take place at the Prince of Wales Theatre on Sunday 19 October 2025, starring renowned West End performer Melanie La Barrie as Death.

The musical, based on Markus Zusak's 16 million-copy global best-seller, has a book 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) with music and lyrics by Kate Anderson and Elyssa Samsel (Apple TV’s Central Park & Olaf's Frozen Adventure). The original production was directed by the Octagon’s Artistic Director, Lotte Wakeham

Lotte Wakeham said: “The Book Thief remains one of the Octagon’s most successful and beloved shows. Following its world premiere here in Bolton in 2022 and its subsequent run in Coventry and Leicester, I’m delighted that audiences in London are now going to get the opportunity to experience this extraordinary show, in this special West End concert version. It’s a hugely exciting step in the production’s journey and promises to be an unforgettable evening of theatre.”

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.”

Producers Emily Lunnon and Ramin Sabi said: “It’s our great pleasure to bring this beautiful show to London for the first time. The unique musical language created by the writing team has brought Markus’ timeless and timely story to life in that very special way that only theatre can.”

Since the original Bolton production was produced by the Octagon Theatre, Deus Ex Machina Productions have staged The Book Thief at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre and Leicester’s Curve to great audience acclaim.

Melanie La Barrie is best known for originating the role of Hermes in the West End premiere of Hadestown, for which she won the 2025 WhatsOnStage Award for Best Supporting Performer in a Musical. Her previous theatre credits include: &Juliet (West End & Broadway); We Aren’t Kids Anymore (Savoy Theatre); Wicked (Apollo Victoria Theatre); Dick Whittington (National Theatre); The Everyman Season (Everyman Playhouse, Liverpool); Matilda The Musical (RSC & Cambridge Theatre); Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (The Old Vic); Mary Poppins (Prince Edward Theatre); Les Misérables (Sondheim Theatre); Play Mas (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond); and Bakkhai (Almeida Theatre). She is currently appearing as Nurse in Mary Page Marlowe at The Old Vic.

THE BOOK THIEF is told by Death – they are haunted by humans, cataloguing the colour of the sky at the precise moment they carry each soul away. Tonight’s story belongs to Liesel Meminger, twelve years old and unafraid to take what matters: the red of a book found in the snow, the black of a novel rescued from a bonfire, the white of empty pages she will fill with her own defiant words. Down in a cellar painted in shadows, she reads to Max, a Jewish fist-fighter hidden by her foster family, and together they imagine a world lit by language. Above, Hans plays the accordion with fingers stained by tobacco and time, Rosa hurls curses wrapped in warmth, and Rudy runs beside Liesel, chasing a kiss that history won’t allow.

THE BOOK THIEF concert will be directed and choreographed by Tom Jackson Greaves (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Whistle Down The Wind) after original direction by Lotte Wakeham (The Book Thief, Little Shop of Horrors), with libretto by Jodi Picoult (Breathe, Between The Lines) & Timothy Allen McDonald (Roald Dahl’s James & The Giant Peach and Willy Wonka), music and lyrics by Elyssa Samsel & Kate Anderson (Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, Central Park), orchestrations & musical supervision by Matthew Malone (Spend Spend Spend, Brassed Off), set & costume Design by Good Teeth (Piaf, Aladdin), lighting design by Nic Farman (Allegiance, The Diary of a CEO Live), sound design by Sound Quiet Time (Stanger Things: The First Shadow), casting by Abby Galvin (The Leftbehinds, The Lonely Londoners) and musical direction by Natalie Pound (This Is My Family, Next to Normal).

THE BOOK THIEF is produced by Deus Ex Machina Productions (RIDE, Alice in Wonderland, Four Play), Writers’ Cage, and Andrew Paradis in association with Bethany Cooper Productions.

THE BOOK THIEF
Sunday 19 October 2025, 5pm

Prince of Wales Theatre
Coventry Street
London
W1D 6AS

Booking link
Box Office: 0344 482 5151
Access booking line: 0344 482 5137

Tickets from: £15