(Image: Manuel Harlan)
As you may have heard from 3rd July until 8th September Birmingham’s Hippodrome will be inviting the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Company to its stage for an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda.
Theatre goers have been talking about this for a while now, as after a successful eight years on the West End, the cast and crew of the mystic musical are embarking on their first tour of the UK & Ireland.
All the excitement has led us to reminisce about the author’s wonderful talent for bringing magic to life in his many children’s book.
Here are a few of our favourites:
The Witches
One of Dahl’s darker works, The Witches is based around the secret world of evil beings who have an undying thirst for torturing children. The women descend on sunny Bournemouth for their most important conference yet. Unfortunately, our favourite character meets a sticky end in this classic tale at the hands of The Grand High Witch.
The BFG
This is one of the writer’s most recent works to gain a Hollywood re-boot. Sophie is whisked away to the Giant Country by The BFG in this heart-warming story. His fellow ‘bad’ giants get their comeuppance by the end of this charming tale and everyone lives happily ever after, a conclusion that Dahl doesn’t always humour.
James and the Giant Peach
Orphan James sets sail on a giant peach, escaping his terrifying aunts Sponge and Spiker in this imaginative tale. He makes friends for life on his journey in the shape of a friendly group of creepy crawlies. The story’s climax sees the group dramatically land in New York city where they begin a new life.
The Twits
A ghastly couple know at ‘ The Twits’ live alone but for a family of pet monkeys in this bizarre writing. They continuously play vile pranks on one another to convey their hatred. Until their poorly treated pets and an army of birds, who Mr Twit has been trying to capture for his signature bird pies, turn the tables and get their own back, making for a disturbing conclusion.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
One of his most famed works is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This piece has been adapted on screen and stage many a time. For those who aren’t familiar (we could never know why!) Charlie wins the golden ticket to visit Willy Wonka’s world famous chocolate factory. A barrage of unexpected mishaps await his fellow guests but all becomes clear in the end.
(Illustrations: Quentin Blake)
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