The Golden Bird

The Golden Bird is the story of a boy who stammers and stutters so much he finds it easier not to talk at all. His teacher gives him the part of the Golden Bird in the school play, and he finds a way of really shining. Award-winning. 7+

Sadly, The Golden Bird is no longer available, although you may be able to find secondhand copies on Amazon or elsewhere.

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He pretended he was a ghost, and that nobody knew he was there.

Andrew is unhappy, and finds it hard to speak. One day his teacher writes a school play based on The Sleeping Beauty, and to Andrew’s horror he is given a part in it. It’s a made-up character called the Golden Bird. When he realises that he doesn’t have to say anything in the play, he decides that he will try to be as much like a bird as possible.

The idea for The Golden Bird came when I was writing a Christmas play for the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme. I dramatised The Sleeping Beauty, and I invented a character called the Golden Bird, a magical creature who binds the story together. The actor who played the part was called Andrew, and was very tall. It was amazing to watch how he ‘became’ a bird, pecking and moving his body like a bird, flapping his arms as though they were wings, even before he was given his costume. I really expected that by the time the play was performed he would be able to fly!