In 1961 the master craftsman of the children’s tale, Roald Dahl, published the ever endearing James and the Giant Peach. It’s a wonderful story about a 7 year old boy who climbs aboard a gigantic peach to get away from his horrid life.
This is classic children’s story time stuff. Firstly, James became an orphan after his parents were eaten by a rhino on a London street. He has to live with his cruel and hideous aunts, Spiker and Sponge. A concerned stranger gives him a potion, made by mixing glowing-green crocodile tongues with water, and he escapes by floating and flying off on a massive peach where he befriends a collection of oversized bugs.
To put it bluntly, I love this book. It has always been a favourite of mine and one I turn back to at times when I need some inspiration for my own writing.
So as you can imagine, it was a great delight for me to see the Grand Theatre setting up the Giant Peach Orchard at the Tiny Worlds Family Day at Stanley Park for the Wordpool Festival. In this wonderful area, created by artist Cath Moran, children and adults could make insects out of clay, create wings and headdresses and take part in a massive Ladybird hunt. With the dancing cockroach, a worm with Ukulele skills to rival George Formby and enough free peaches to keep everybody smiling, this was a beautifully colourfuladdition to a fantastic Woodpool event.
The Grand Theatre made their decision to create this orchard to tie in with the Birmingham Stage Company‘s production of this classic tale which will be running between Wednesday 2 and Saturday 5 October 2013 inclusive.
When it comes to staging Dahl, this company knows exactly what it’s doing. They have produced more Roald Dahl adaptations than any other stage company in the world. Five star review has followed five star review and this energetic performance will be no different. Music, dancing, laughter and tears; this version follows the storyline of the 1996 film directed by Henry Selick which, for my money, is one of the best book to film adaptations around
My advice to everyone reading this today is read the book, watch the film and go see the stage production at the Grand Theatre. It’s a sure way to enrich your life with the magic of pure storytelling.
Tickets for this show are selling fast so book early to avoid disappointment.
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