Advertisement

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ musical: 10 things you never knew about the much-loved diarist

Alastair Muir
Alastair Muir

Long before Harry Potter came along, another young chap’s adolescent adventures had readers enthralled. But with no magic wand or special powers to speak of, Adrian Albert Mole – aged 13¾ - had to make do with his glum suburban life in Leicester for his literary inspiration, documenting his teenage woe in all its mundane glory.

With a brand new musical adaptation of Sue Townsend’s iconic book opening at the Menier Chocolate Factory this week, stage adaptor Jake Brunger lets us into some little-known facts about Mole…

He was nearly called Nigel. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Adrian started out as Nigel Mole before he became his more infamous namesake. Among the 32 alternative names Sue considered were Trevor, Malcolm, Darius and Darren.

Feel sorry, however, for the other Adrian Mole. That’s right, a poor University lecturer unintentionally became the laughing stock of his students. Poor chap. As an anal hypochondriac with a penchant for documenting his various wet dreams, it’s not exactly the coolest name to be lumbered with…

Adrian shares a birthday with his creator, Sue Townsend. Once candidly revealing that ‘Adrian Mole, c'est moi’, Sue wrote much of her own life into his eight volumes of diaries. She often used the names of real family and friends in cameo parts, such as her daughter Elizabeth Sally Broadway, who asks out Adrian in science class.

Buy tickets for The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ with Evening Standard Tickets

Mole shares a rather surprising set of contemporaries. Born on April 2nd 1967, Adrian would have found himself in the same school year as David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Noel Gallagher. As a supposed intellectual superior, however, he’d have most likely loathed them all too…

His so-called ‘secret’ diary became an accidental populist hit. With sales of more than 8 million copies, the spotty teenage anti-hero made Sue Townsend the biggest selling author of the 1980s. So much for keeping the measurements of his ‘11cm thing’ under wraps!

No tweets or hashtags here though, please. Sue was adamant that despite the technological advances since 1981, he’d have never used social media. It’s hard to imagine young Moley wasting hours on Buzzfeed either; he’d have much preferred to read Sex the Facts under his pillow instead.

Mole had his finger firmly on the political pulse. Passionate about politics and societal injustice, Sue both scrutinised and satirised contemporary British governments in Mole’s diaries, even naming his 2004 tome Weapons of Mass Destruction, with the object-of-his-affection Pandora Braithwaite cast as one of New Labour’s ‘Blair’s babes’ MPs.

Mole passed away with Sue. After a lifetime of poor health problems – once describing herself as ‘the world’s worst diabetic’ - Sue passed away in 2014 aged just 68. She once told reporters that ‘the only way I’ll kill Adrian is when I die myself’. She was working on a new Mole book – Pandora’s Box – at the time of her death, as well as consulting on the forthcoming stage musical adaptation.

Adrian’s celebrity super-fans include David Walliams, JK Rowling, Caitlin Moran, David Nicholls and the legion of actors who starred in the TV adaptations including Julie Walters, Helen Baxendale, Alison Steadman and Stephen Mangan, who gave a reading at her funeral.

The musical adaptation features a cast of three different Adrians aged 12 to 14. Not only is the role of Adrian one of the biggest child parts in musical theatre but the company also includes two septuagenarians, making it one of the most multi-generational casts in London this summer. The cast also includes Olivier-nominee Kelly Price and Poldark and Midsumer Murders star John Hopkins as the creepy next-door neighbour who lures Adrian’s mother into a sordid affair. Eat your heart out, Poldark!

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ is at Menier Chocolate Factory until September 9