Honk!

Spring has come to the farmyard. Drake, the Mallard duck, and his long-suffering partner, Ida, await the birth of a new brood, but the nest seems to contain one inordinately large egg this year.

Sure enough, it cracks open to reveal a chick who looks nothing like his siblings and who makes a strange ‘honk’ sound instead of the expected quack.

Ida warms to him, though, and takes him out for his first swim on the lake and finds him to be a prodigious swimmer.

The other farmyard fowl, however ridicule him, driving him into the eager paws of The Cat, who invites him back to the "Kitty Kat Snack Shack" for lunch.

Ugly escapes by the skin of his teeth, but with night falling he becomes lost. On his quest to find his Mum, he encounters a squadron of Geese, the delightfully barmy Queenie & Lowbutt and a Tyranassaurus-rexy Bullfrog. Between them, they cheer Ugly’s spirits and teach him to look on the sunny side of life.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, a very concerned Ida insists that Drake and the others launch a search.

Before winter sets in, Ugly encounters Penny, a beautiful young swan who seems to have a connection with him, but she’s forced to migrate with her family. All seems lost with the onset of a terrible blizzard and the return of the famished Cat. With the arrival of spring, however, Ugly, Ida and Penny are happily reunited before their triumphant return to the farmyard.

HONK! first hatched in 1993 at the Watermill Theatre, with the title THE UGLY DUCKLING or THE AESTHETICALLY-CHALLENGED FARMYARD FOWL.

In 1995 it was seen for the first time in the USA at Sag Harbour, Long Island.

In 1997 Julia McKenzie came on board as director and persuaded Sir Alan Ayckbourn to programme HONK! at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough that Christmas. With designer Peter McIntosh and choreographer Aletta Collins, a blueprint for the show was created under it’s new title, HONK!

HONK’s big break came in December 1999 when Sir Trevor Nunn invited Julia to restage her production in the National Theatre’s largest space, the Olivier Theatre. It was the first ever, new British musical to be produced in the history of the NT.

In 2000, to everyone’s amazement, HONK! won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical - beating both The Lion King and Mamma Mia to the prize.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, a very concerned Ida insists that Drake and the others launch a search.

Before winter sets in, Ugly encounters Penny, a beautiful young swan who seems to have a connection with him, but she’s forced to migrate with her family. All seems lost with the onset of a terrible blizzard and the return of the famished Cat. With the arrival of spring, however, Ugly, Ida and Penny are happily reunited before their triumphant return to the farmyard.