Joanna Lumley lines up stars to aid Peter Pan house
- Published
Joanna Lumley was instrumental in putting together the new recording
An all-star cast has been lined up to help boost the fortunes of Scotland's national centre for children's literature in Dumfries.
Joanna Lumley, Jennifer Saunders and David Walliams are among those involved in a new recording of JM Barrie's classic Peter Pan.
Part of the proceeds will go to help Moat Brae - the mansion where the author played as a child.
It will also support Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
JM Barrie played at the house in Dumfries as a child
The new audio book is released next month and also features Kit Harington, Alex Jennings, Alex Kingston, Helen McCrory, Juliet Stevenson and Zoe Wanamaker.
The story has been abridged by Martin Jarvis - who is part of the recording - and introduced by Michael Morpurgo.
The proceeds will go to the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust, which runs the site in Dumfries, as well as the Great Ormond Street Hospital, which was gifted the rights to Peter Pan by the author in 1929.
Ms Lumley, who is a patron of the trust, was instrumental in bringing together the "host of stars" to record the "strange, thrilling, charming and unsettling work".
David Walliams is also part of the new recording
She said the Dumfries property where Barrie played as a child provided a valuable link to the story.
"The Peter Pan Moat Brae House fires our imagination and draws us into the world of Neverland," she said.
JM Barrie was born in Kirriemuir but spent part of his childhood in Dumfries.
He played in the gardens of Moat Brae and later described it as part of his inspiration for the Peter Pan story.
The building had been allowed to fall into disrepair but opened last year after a major restoration project as Scotland's national centre for children's literature and storytelling.
- Published6 December 2019
