Screen to stage:

Kes

Regarded as one of the greatest British films ever made, Ken Loach’s Kes has also enjoyed numerous stage renditions.

The latest theatrical offering to be based on the classic rites of passage tale is Welsh playwright Robert Alan Evans’ adaptation for Perth Theatre, which opens at the Horsecross Arts venue’s intimate Joan Knight Studio next week – almost 50 years to the day since its source inspiration enjoyed its original cinema release in November 1969.

Legendary director Loach initially made his name with his vivid Wednesday Play adaptation of Nell Dunn’s short story Up The Junction in 1965, before directing the harrowing homeless drama Cathy Come Home for the same BBC series the following year.

Just his second cinematic offering – following his 1967 debut Poor Cow – Kes was based on 1968 novel A Kestrel For A Knave, with the book’s South Yorkshire author Barry Hines also co-writing the screenplay with Loach and producer Tony Garnett.

Set in the Barnsley mining community that lay just a stone’s throw from Hines’ lifelong home village, the social realist piece’s central character is lonely 15-year-old Billy Casper – memorably portrayed in the big screen version by Dai Bradley – who steals a kestrel chick from a nest on a farm and sets about training the bird.

The new production sees Billy played by Danny Hughes, who made his professional stage debut last year in Perth Theatre’s National Theatre of Scotland co-production The 306. He’s joined in a small cast by Matthew Barker, whose credits include roles in The Daughter-in-Law and Sweet Bird Of Youth on stage, plus Humans, Doctors, No Angels, The Cone-Gatherers and Peak Practice on TV.

Kes is being directed by Perth’s artistic supremo Lu Kemp, who believes the play will appeal to people already familiar with its story as well as newcomers to the work of Loach and Hines. “It’s a simple and heart-breaking story told with lots of humour and personality and I think audiences will enjoy this fresh perspective,” she says.

“Many of our audience members will have vivid memories of seeing Ken Loach’s film of Kes for the first time. For those new to the story of a boy and his kestrel, this brilliant adaptation is a joy in itself.

“Like the film, this adaptation stays true to Barry Hines’ tender novel and we will be inviting audiences into the gritty world of 1960s working-class Yorkshire.”

Monmouthshire-born wordsmith Rob Evans, 41, has been in demand since his debut play A Girl In A Car With A Man earned a run at the Royal Court Theatre in 2004, with actor Andrew Scott picking up a Laurence Olivier Award the following year for his performance.

The new production sees Billy played by Danny Hughes.