PICK Me Up Theatre will follow up this week's production of Michael Morpurgo’s Private Peaceful with another wartime story, switching the focus from The Great War to the Second World War in Michelle Magorian’s Goodnight Mister Tom.

From Wednesday, David Wood's magical adaptation of Magorian’s at once sad yet uplifting tale will be staged by Robert Readman at the John Cooper Studio Theatre, 41Monkgate, York, where the adventures of young London evacuee William Beech unfold when he is moved to the idyllic Dorset countryside.

Here he forges a remarkable and heart-warming friendship with an elderly recluse, Tom Oakley, so stymied by the death of his wife 40 years earlier. Nevertheless, Tom is touched by the misery of the little evacuee, who arrived in the South West ill-nourished, covered in bruises and unable to read.

York Press:

Zac Stewart as Zach, left, puppeteer Elanor Dunn and Sammy the Border Collie and Jack Hambleton, as William Beech, in Goodnight Mr Tom. Picture: Matthew Kitchen

Tom Oakley will be played by Pick Me Up regular Craig Kirby, adding to a diverse credits list that includes the self-flagellating Judge Turpin in Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and exasperated teacher Mr Briggs in Willy Russell's Our Day Out. He will be joined by two Pick Me Up newcomers, ten-year-old Jack Hambleton, from the Robert Wilkinson Primary Academy, Strensall, as William, and 12-year-old Zac Stewart, from Pocklington School, as his friend Zach.

"I really wanted to play William because you have to display a lot of different emotions and I thought it would be a good chance to stretch my acting skills," says Jack, who already has taken on the title role in Upstage Centre Youth Theatre's Oliver! at 41 Monkgate. "William's a big challenge certainly, and it's really fun working with Craig and Zac."

Zac, in turn, was understandably drawn to playing his namesake Zach, a Jewish boy with a zest for life and a passion for theatre. "This is the first time I've done a role like this. I read the book, really liked it, and with Zach's character, I thought, 'I'd love to play that role'," he says, after following in the footsteps of his sister Freya, who appeared in Pick Me Up's production of The Addams Family.

York Press:

Craig Kirby, as Tom Oakley, with Sammy the Border Collie, Jack Hambleton, as William Beech, and Zac Stewart, as Zach, in Goodnight Mister Tom. Picture: Matthew Kitchen

Both Jack and Zac are also busy with other productions, Jack in a dance show with the Rebecca Davies School of Dance and in a chorus role in Pick Me Up Theatre's early summer production of Gypsy at the Grand Opera House; Zac in the chorus in Peter Pan and The Drowsy Chaperone at school. First, however, they will have the thrill of making their Pick Me Up debuts in a wonderful children's play that played the Grand Opera House on national tours in 2013 and 2016.

Craig Kirby saw neither of those productions and nor has he seen more than a snippet of the 1999 film adaptation that starred John Thaw as the stony-hearted Tom. "I watched a couple of minutes just to brush up on the accent: it's Dorset, and I'll play it 'rural with feeling'," he says. "I don't like being influenced unnecessarily by what's been done before; it's better to do it your own way."

Tom Oakley has been played by such esteemed actors as Oliver Ford Davies and David Troughton and Craig Kirby, gifted with one of the York stage's great voices and most expressive faces, is a worthy addition to the roll call. "Tom is not a particularly vocal individual but there's an awful lot going on his head," he says. "William has to try to get things out of him, but only at the end does Tom really let go and show his emotions.York Press:

Puppet maker Elanor Dunn working on Sammy the Border Collie's head for Goodnight Mister Tom

"When I first read the script, there were some lines that could bring you to tears straightaway, which reminded me of when I did Tevye in Harrogate in Fiddler On The Roof, but I've yet to decide whether it's appropriate to emote that far."

Craig also will be working in tandem with Elanor Dunn, puppeteer for Tom Oakley's loyal sheepdog, Sammy. "We're very lucky that we have Elanor, who also did a wonderful job bringing the pig to life in Pick Me Up's Betty Blue Eyes. She both makes the puppet and is the puppeteer, and you just don't notice her on stage," he says.

Just as Craig can draw on childhood memories of his family's Border Collie dog – "she was so intelligent," he recalls – so he can dip into his encounters with the rural community to portray a "rattling old recluse". "Bearing in mind that I'm a vet," he says, "I have come across farmers who are not dissimilar, shall I say!"

Pick Me Up Theatre presents Goodnight Mister Tom, John Cooper Studio Theatre, 41 Monkgate, York, Wednesday to Sunday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm, Saturday and Sunday matinees. Box office: 01904 623568 or at pickmeuptheatre.com