Why Enid Blyton is precisely what the world needs right now

“It's a glorious show,” Lara says. “When you think of all that is going on in this world and that all things are quite grey at the moment, it is lovely to have a glorious British wholesome musical which is going to bring an awful lot of joy and it's got some really lovely moments.

“And it has been lovely watching the reaction of the kids. They're just so invested in it. We have a lot of puppetry. We have Timmy the dog as a puppet and he upstages us all the time!

“My godson reads Enid Blyton and I was quite shocked to discover that he did. He reads lots of the Famous Five stuff and I think Hachette have changed bits and bobs to make it more current and changed some of the things that probably don't bode too well in 2022 about the books.”

And the team behind the musical have changed the Blyton emphasis too: “The show has got a glorious message about climate change.

"I think what Elinor (Cook who wrote the book) has done has been to create her own version of what Enid Blyton might be looking at today and climate change is a big theme in this play. And then of course you've got the character of George who wants to be called George which in this production is definitely an open conversation for the audience to decide what that means for her, whether she is a tomboy and will always be a tomboy or whether she is non-binary or whether she is gay. It's an open conversation that she is just someone trying to find her way. It is not rammed down your throat but it is there. There is a buzz that George feels different in this world, and we accept that. My character accepts that completely but her dad finds it difficult. He is so connected to her name Georgina through his late wife which is why he has got a problem with it – but not a problem with who she is. I think it's really interesting.

“And the music is quite fabulous. It has got a little bit of Sondheim about it and I think Theo (Jamieson who wrote the music and lyrics) has not gone for the traditional way that you might think of The Famous Five being done.”

Adding to the fun is the fact that this is the premiere: “I've only ever done two new musicals before and they are just the most creative experience. It's great for us to create these characters and be so involved in the story of it all. What happens in rehearsal is not what you see in the end. We've had to cut lots of it and we've sacrificed songs and script and we have worked on it together. It has emerged whereas when you're doing a musical that's already established you have to follow the model and you know exactly what is going to be like at the end more or less. But with this one there is a great sense of actually creating something.”