HENRY Pulling is man who enjoys the quaint things in life, he is a retired bank manager and likes nothing more than to tend the dahlias in his little suburban garden.

"He is a decent, normal man, very polite, and keeps himself to himself," says director Amanda Knott, who is pulling the strings in bringing the character to life for Creative Cow's production of Travels with My Aunt.

She goes on, "He is unmarried and spent a lifetime looking after other people's money. He is thoroughly decent though perhaps a little grey. "

And that is where Aunt Augusta comes in.

Travels with My Aunt started its life as a novel by England author Graham Greene before being adapted into a film by George Cuckor starring Alex McCowen and Maggie Smith and then made into a stage show by Scottish dramatist Giles Havergal.

But in all adaptations the fundamental story is the same, following Henry Pulling's fateful meeting with his estranged and eccentric Aunt Augusta

The banker, who has taken early retirement, meets the septuagenarian for the first time in half a century at his mother's funeral.

Aunt Augusta revels in a life of adventure and romance, while Henry longs for a life of predictability and the safety of his garden.

But after some persuading the two head to Brighton before embarking on adventure which takes them around the world from Paris, to Istanbul and on to South America.

Through Aunt Augusta they join a twilight society of hippies, gangs of war criminals, CIA agents, hardcore art smugglers and soon Henry begins to come alive.

"She had to do quite a lot of persuading," says Amanda. "He was happy sitting in his suburban home and he never thought of anything of the type of life she led.

"She says 'lets go to Istanbul' and he replies 'I had not thought of anything further than Brighton.

"I do not think he was thinking about an adventure, it was one which took him by surprise."

One of the unique aspects of the play is the whole production and all the characters are staged by just four actors.

"These four play all the characters but at the same time they all play Henry Pulling and they all play Aunt Augusta," Amanda says "We have four people taking on one character at the same time, it is a challenge an choreographic exercise to do well and make sure the story is clear.

"We are pushing the boundaries with it, even in the same scenes the character is moved around the group and it is our job to make absolutely clear to the audience where and who they are."

Representing the characters transformations even within single scenes, Amanda says the character of Henry and his journey is something people will empathise with.

"I think it is something people will recognise, he is a decent chap but does not really know there is a hound in him until he met Aunt Augusta," she says.

But one of the challenges associated with putting on a well known story which has been tackled by so many directors and in some many different mediums, is making it your own.

"I tend not to focus on the previous iterations," says Amanda. "I did not want to see the film, it is very different from the book, I might do later though.

"I did not want to be beholden to anything. I have seen one production of the play but otherwise everything is a clean sheet."

She goes on, "You cannot help but feel there is a little nagging voice in your head if you go seek out everything. You will end up thinking 'should I be doing it like that', but if you have no influences you can work from a clean slate."

TRAVELS WITH MY AUNT

Devonshire Park Theatre, Compton Street, Eastbourne, March 22 to March 26

7.45pm Tues to Sat, 2.30pm Wed and Sat.

Tickets from £15.50.

Call 01323 412 000.

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