Book Club’s Trip to see Holes at Malvern Theatre

  “You are to dig one hole each day, including Saturdays and Sundays. Each hole must be five feet deep, and five feet across in every direction. Your shovel is your measuring stick. Breakfast is served at 4:30 am.” [Holes].

Following a miscarriage of justice, an ancestral curse, and a no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather, life was never going to be easy for Stanley Yelnats.

Last week was World Book Day and the Year Seven and Eight RGS Book Clubs marked the event with a keenly anticipated trip to Malvern Theatres to watch an inventive adaptation of the 1998 novel ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar. ‘Holes\’ is the story of Stanley Yelnats, a boy who always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Through an unfortunate turn of events, he finds himself serving time in a juvenile detention centre in the middle of the Texan desert. A tyrannical Warden and her team oversee the boys as they dig the same sized hole every day. Apparently, it’s character building, but Stanley and his new friends suspect that is not the only reason they are digging.

Adapted for the stage by Sachar, ‘Holes’ premiered at the Nottingham Playhouse in 2018 to critical acclaim. Our Book Club members were no less effusive about the performance they saw:

“It was really funny but also heart-wrenching.”

“I liked X-Ray and also Clyde Livingstone (sweet feet) as he was such a funny character.”

“Madame Zeroni was my favourite; I loved her accent and the way she portrayed the character.”

Both Lower School Book Clubs have been reading the novel this term; it has proved a very popular choice. To have the opportunity to see the story performed on the stage with such accurate depictions of the characters; many funny moments, and some inventive staging, was a delight. We now look forward to comparing the book with the production and planning our own ‘prison breaks’ using some basic provisions and equipment and possibly, our own 5-foot shovel. Wish us luck!

Mrs Sally Houchin

Teacher of English

i/c RGS Book Clubs