Preview: James and the Giant Peach

JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH

Preview: Linley Wilkie

THE magic of Roald Dahl is that his classic stories manage to appeal to generation after generation. Take James and the Giant Peach, the 1961 gem about orphan James, who enters a giant peach and has wild adventures with the six insects who reside there.

More than 50 years after children first devoured the juicy plot, Gasworks Arts Park is bringing it to life again, this time with a musical version, no less.

Laura Cooney, artistic director of the production, says James and the Giant Peach is such a cherished story because of its “magic” and this adaptation takes advantage of that.

“One of the things we’re focusing on is how to make that real life magic,” she says. “Kids see so much stuff in film that makes them feel like they’re in the room with it and that’s why we’re excited about this particular show – it’s quite an old story, but it’s about escaping the normality of your everyday life.”

Gasworks Arts Park will achieve this by seating the audience (read: kids) quite close to the stage and implementing traditional theatre practices with more modern twists. “At one stage the children will be interviewed on live CCTV that’s projected on stage and we’ve got a UV puppetry scene,” Cooney says.

A team of talented costume makers have created the puppets and insect costumes that are sure to delight. “The insects are bright and colourful, but also have quite a lot of human characteristics,” Cooney says. “Each insect from the book has its own personality – the earthworm’s quite grumpy and the ladybird’s quite stylish, so the book suggested to us how the costumes should be developed.”

James and the Giant Peach is part of Gasworks school holiday line-up and with Cooney specialising in children’s productions, it’s sure to be a hit – and if not, she’ll be sure to know.

“Kids are a great audience, because they’re very honest. If you’re rubbish, they’ll tell you, if you’re fantastic they’ll tell you, so you learn very quickly.”