Set entirely on a kitchen dresser, 'The Gingerbread Man' is one of Britain's most successful plays for children. Wood writes: 'I didn't want to recreate the nursery tale about the Gingerbread Man who eventually gets eaten by the fox, so started to think of a more contemporary situation, in which a freshly-baked gingerbread man might affect the day-to-day lives of other characters living in the ktichen where he had been baked.' Other characters in the play include Herr Von Cuckoo, a cuckoo in a cuckoo clock who sports natty leder-hosen; Salt, a salt cellar with pretentions to being a sailor; Pepper, an elegant lady, and a pepper-cellar; The Old Bag, a short-tempered teabag; and Sleek the mouse, an intruding American gangster of a mouse. 'The Gingerbread Man' was first performed at Basildon's Towngate Theatre in December 1976.