In November 2021, Oliver spent two weeks in residence at Z-Arts, Manchester’s premier children’s theatre venue. 

He was busy adapting his dazzling debut novel, Alfie’s First Fight into a one-person children’s theatre show, supported by Stories Of Care, Z-Arts and Arts Council England.

Working with Director Dominic Berry, Oliver performed eight script-in-hand shows to a wide range of family and schools’ audiences. 

Oliver said, “It was an absolute pleasure from start to finish. During the first week, Dominic and I spent time finessing the live script to ensure the storytelling was clear, engaging and fun. Then, we loosely blocked the show, incorporating lots of really fun interactive moments. 

“During week two, we travelled all over Manchester and I got to perform lots of script-in-hand performances to children and families, which were really fun and immensely valuable. 

“I’m really thankful to Z-Arts. With their support, I went from having a draft script to a fully blocked, tried and tested work-in-progress children’s show. I can’t wait for May 2022 when I go back into rehearsals ahead of my summer 2022 tour!”