It is fitting that the puppeteers should be the first to appear for the curtain call at the end of Daniel Evans’ new production of The BFG – they are the literal beating heart that animates Roald Dahl’s fiction into jubilant life. Toby Olié’s puppetry cleverly navigates the tricky task of scale. The solution is three separate levels of puppets, with the biggest measuring up to 16 feet. At the smallest level, the BFG puppet towers over human-sized Sophie. In the middle, Sophie is a miniature puppet while the BFG is human-sized, the bigger giants looming over them both. Occasionally, we move to an even greater scale, where the bigger giants become human-sized, and the humans are pocket-sized micro-puppets. 

Tom Wells, aided by Jenny Worton, adapts the 1982 children’s book into a tightly abridged but mostly faithful stage adaptation

We spend most of our time in the middle world, which is, fortunately, the best executed of the three. John Leader provides a suitably characterful off-screen voice for the BFG puppet, but is at his best by far when he embodies the character on stage. His physicality communicates the friendly giant’s innocence in a way that the enormous puppet cannot quite replicate. His wonderfully expressive performance also creates several heartwarming moments with the intricately controlled puppet for mini-Sophie. 

Tom Wells, aided by Jenny Worton, adapts the 1982 children’s book into a tightly abridged but mostly faithful stage adaptation. The plot points are nearly identical to the book – The BFG snatches away Sophie (Ellemie Shivers on press night) to Giant Country, after she catches sight of him outside of her orphanage window. The BFG is a “Runt” next to the enormous Bloodbottler (Richard Riddell) and the other less friendly giants. Sophie and the BFG resolve to foil Bloodbottler’s plans to eat all of London’s orphans. Her inspiration for this is a disappointingly underutilised new addition, fellow orphan Kimberley (Maisy Lee on press night), who inspires Sophie’s plan to seek support from The Queen (Helena Lymbery). 

What makes this adaptation so enjoyable to watch is its ability to appeal to an audience of diverse ages – there is humour for everyone here.

What makes this adaptation so enjoyable to watch is its ability to appeal to an audience of diverse ages – there is humour for everyone here. Dahl’s wordplay flows through in the BFG’s vernacular, as he talks of ‘presposterous’ ideas and ‘double-donker’ buses. There is a fantastic aspect of farce to many of the human scenes, particularly in the military double act of the overly cautious moustached Captain Smith (Phillip Labey), and the hilariously unintelligible further-moustached Captain Frith (Luke Sumner).

The satire is tied together with Lymberry’s tongue-in-cheek Queen, the standout of the adult performances, and her unduly diligent butler Tibbs (Sargon Yelda). While some of the sharper wordplay will go over the heads of some of the children, they are unlikely to feel too left out as there is more than enough youth-focused silliness − including the ‘whizzpopping’ toilet humour, which still manages to be somewhat cross-generational. 

Although Dahl’s sense of darkness does poke through with the towering giant puppets, particularly in one nightmarish sequence in the first act, the production often prefers comedy, choosing to see them as slapstick brutes. The production softens Dahl’s signature bite, and sidesteps the controversy of the 2023 revisions to his books by cutting all but one of the geographically stereotyped jokes about the tastes of various peoples. 

What Evans focuses on instead, is a true embodiment of the power of dreams and imagination. It is not only the brightly coloured dreams which literally whizz around the stage; Ira Mandela Siobhan’s choreography is breathtakingly surreal at times, as actors and puppets are carried across the stage and moulded into various positions as they float through the air. The experience of both dreaming and travelling is brilliantly creative, engrossing the audience as the BFG weaves his way past miniature buses and landmarks or as Sophie dances midair encircled by floating balls of candy floss. 

Ira Mandela Siobhan’s choreography is breathtakingly surreal at times, as actors and puppets are carried across the stage and moulded into various positions as they float through the air

The wonderfully analogue innovation at the heart of the show is a welcome sight in a world where creativity is often outsourced to digital solutions. The imagination it encourages will hopefully inspire the younger members of the audience to dream big about real world creativity. Given the play is a collaboration between the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Chichester Festival and Singapore Repertory theatres, it will have plenty of chance to inspire “chiddlers” and grown-ups alike. 

 

The BFG has something for everyone in a joyful, imaginative spectacle
Rating: 5/5

 

The BFG is at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon until the 7th of
February. Then at Chichester Festival Theatre from the 9th of March to the 11th of April.

Buy your tickets here:

https://www.rsc.org.uk/the-bfg/

 

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