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The theatrical magic of prize-winning author Philip Pullman is set to be cast upon The Maddermarket stage this Christmas.

The Norwich theatre company feels like the cat that got the cream after winning personal permission from the author to stage Puss In Boots, Pullman's unpublished version of the fairytale.

"Of course you may do it at your [the Maddermarket] wonderful theatre, I would be very happy to see it on stage again," said Philip Pullman in a letter to the venue.

"It was published as a book with lovely illustrations by Ian Beck but as you say it has never been published in its original play form.

"I am glad you have a script because I have lost the only script I had," he added.Ìý

Born in Norwich, Pullman isÌýperhaps most well-known for His Dark Materials trilogy.

Staff at the Maddermarket were thrilled when the author agreed to a request to stage Puss In Boots over the festive season.

Christmas coup

"This is an unbelievable Christmas coup for the Maddermarket," said director of productions Peter Sowerbutts, who played the 'hungry ogre' in the original version of the play a decade ago.

The revival will mark the first time the play has been performed since it was originally commissioned in 1997 by the Polka Theatre For Children, in Wimbledon.

"Puss In Boots was an enormous success in Wimbledon, but it was never published because Philip Pullman opted to turn the play into the text for an equally successful illustrated children's book instead," said Sowerbutts.

"I explained to Philip that I would really like to direct it here, and I am absolutely delighted that he has agreed to give us the rights.

"It's a wonderful show – it's not a pantomime, it's a play, but it's an absolute scream and we are all extremely grateful to Philip. It's going to be terrific fun," he added.

The Golden Compass

The staging of the play couldn't be better timed.

Lyra Belacqua and Mrs Coulter

This December also marks the release of The Golden Compass, the much-awaited film version of The Northern Lights, which is the first in Pullman's acclaimed His Dark Materials trilogy.

Starring 12-year-old newcomer Dakota Blue Richards as the adventurous Lyra Belacqua, the film also features Nicole Kidman as the mercurial Mrs Coulter and Daniel Craig as the explorer and scientist Lord Asriel.

The Northern Lights is set in a parallel world where human souls take the form of animal companions and one child stands between the end of free will and the beginning of a new age.

Puss In Boots runs at The Maddermarket, Norwich, from Saturday, 15 December, 2007 to Wednesday, 2 January, 2008.