In collaboration with the Roald Dahl Story Company and Chichester Festival Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has revealed that it will adapt Roald Dahl’s children’s book The BFG for the stage. The play will debut at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon for a 10-week run during the holiday season of 2025. Sophie, a young orphan, befriends a giant and sets out on a quest to prevent other giants from devouring children. This is the first Roald Dahl stage adaptation of a Roald Dahl book since Matilda the Musical in 2010.
Daniel Evans, a co-artistic director at RSC, will lead the production.
“Everyone has dreams and the story shows that if you believe hard enough, your dreams can come true,” he remarked in an interview with BBC News, expressing his excitement for the show and its potential appeal to both adults and children.
The Queen, who assists Sophie and the BFG in saving the kids, is another significant figure in the novel.
According to Evans, there is something “even more poignant” about Queen Elizabeth II’s persona because adults will have grown up with her as their ruler.
Language changes
The BFG was one of Dahl’s books that underwent changes in 2023 to make them more appropriate for contemporary audiences. For instance, the line “You’ve gone white as a sheet!” has been changed to “you’ve gone still as a statue!” and the amiable giant no longer dons a “black” cloak. Words like “fat” and “ugly” were eliminated from Dahl’s novels after being examined by sensitivity readers, who look for potentially offensive content. Evans described the changes, saying that “it’s almost irrelevant in theatre.” “The playwright will have a certain vision of how the characters should be presented and the story they want to tell. It might be that the language is changed entirely.” Tom Wells, a playwright whose works include Broken Biscuits, The Kitchen Sink, and Me, As A Penguin, will adapt The BFG for the stage.
The BFG has sold over 21 million copies worldwide and is ranked as the tenth most popular children’s and young adult fiction novel, according to YouGov.
In 2016, Steven Spielberg directed and co-produced a fantasy adventure film based on the novel, which starred Ruby Barnhill as Sophie and Sir Mark Rylance as the BFG.
The musical Matilda has won 101 international awards and been viewed by over 12 million people in 100 cities worldwide. In October 2022, it was made into a movie.
The Magic Theatre, The Witches, and The Enormous Crocodile have all been stage adaptations by the Roald Dahl tale company.
Dahl, who passed away in 1990 at the age of 74, is still the most well-known writer in the United Kingdom and, as of 2023, has sold over 300 million copies worldwide. Sixty-four languages have translated his writings. However, Dahl’s lifelong antisemitic remarks made him a very troublesome person.
The “lasting and understandable hurt caused by Roald Dahl’s antisemitic statements” was acknowledged by his family in 2020 when they issued an apology.
Conservation work under way at Shakespeare cottage
At another of William Shakespeare’s family residences in Warwickshire, a number of crucial conservation projects have started.
The project at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage in Shottery, the old residence of the well-known playwright’s wife, entails routine upkeep, thorough cleaning, and little structure repairs.
According to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT), the building was temporarily closed to visitors from Monday to January 31 in order to facilitate construction.
Shakespeare’s Birthplace conservation project in Stratford-upon-Avon was finished on Friday.
Artifacts would be preserved and available for “future generations to enjoy” thanks to “vital work” at the cottage, according to Amy Davis, collections care officer.
“We’re going to be going around the house inspecting all of the historic artefacts and the furniture that we have on display for any signs of deterioration,” she said.
“We’re going to be removing any surface dirt or dust that we find, treating any infestations that we find.”
According to Ms. Davis, all of the cottage’s textiles would be stored in a freezer for the duration of the conservation period in order to avoid moth infestations.
“This simply destroys any moths’ dormant eggs or larvae that may still be present, so hopefully there won’t be any moths come spring.”
Puppet master’s work showcased in new exhibition
The art of a man George Bernard Shaw referred to as “the chief living puppet master” will be on display in a new exhibition.
Known for his work with the Lanchester Marionettes, Waldo Lanchester once entertained the future Queen Elizabeth II as a little girl.
Starting this weekend, the Bantock House Museum in Wolverhampton will host an exhibition honoring Lanchester’s contribution to the puppetry industry.
According to Michael Dixon, the show’s curator and chair of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild, he was “puppetry royalty”. Lanchester, who passed away in 1978 at the age of 81, founded the London Marionette Theatre in 1927 alongside the guild’s founder, H.W. Whanslaw, and produced the first puppets ever shown on television.
After that, Lanchester relocated to Malvern, Worcestershire, where he and his wife, Muriel, established the Lanchester Marionette Theatre in 1936 from their Foley House residence.
“Puppetry had sort of died off at the turn of the century, and in the late 1920s, early 1930s, there was a renaissance,” said Dixon.
“And Waldo Lanchester was at the forefront of that.”
The Lanchesters entertained King George VI and his daughters, Elizabeth, who would go on to become Queen, and Margaret, her sister, in 1938.
Shakes vs Shav, George Bernard Shaw’s last piece, was written for the Lanchester Marionettes to perform at the 1949 Malvern Festival.
After retiring to Straford-upon-Avon, the Lanchesters set up a puppet theater across from Shakespeare’s birthplace.
From the start of the Lanchesters’ puppetry career to its conclusion, a variety of hand-carved wooden marionettes will be on display at Bantock House.
“Obviously he’s not very well-known these days, he’s not world-famous or anything like that,” stated Dixon.
“We’re really proud to be showcasing his work and showing the quality of his work to a different generation.”
From January 11 to April 30, the Lancester Marionettes exhibit will be on display at Wolverhampton’s Bantock House Museum.