James and The Giant Peach

This rather dark tale of orphaned boy James Trotter and his adventures with a giant peach plus assorted giant bugs is vividly brought to the stage in this imaginative adaptation from the 1961 book. On arrival into the auditorium I was immediately intrigued by the size of the set, one enormous giant peach, complete with smoking chimney and soft fuzzy exterior sited at the heart of Central Park, New York. This clever construction by Andy Turner and Jenny Gregory certainly had impact with its multifunctional use throughout the play.

Director Janos Barber succeeded in translating the complexities of the story into something quirky, with imagination and a tribute to the characters described in the original book. During the play it would have been nice to see more of a difference made between the stylised language and natural dialogue used for impact. There were some good lighting (Rosemary Druce) and sound effects (Sammy Clarke) which added to the atmosphere making sure that we knew all the way through that “Marvellous things are about to happen”. 

It wasn’t long before we were introduced to the central character of James, played by Jake Dillon. An excellent job to be such a confident 10 year old principal performer surrounded by giant bugs played by appropriate over-the-top acting adults. James’s diction, delivery and enthusiasm helped to bring this story to life however there were a few occasions when dialogue was lost upstage but this did not detract from his overall performance.  James ends up in the care of his two cruel aunts after a rhinoceros kills his parents. From now on, poor James’ life takes a turn for the worse as both Aunt Sponge (a well padded, and squidgy, Debbie Jones) and Aunt Spiker (a semi evil Jenny Gregory) turned his life into misery on a daily basis. It's a great opportunity for the pair to indulge in exaggerated characterization, which they grasped with both hands, much to the delight of the audience.

When James accidentally spills crocodile tongues given to him by the Old Man (locally played by Bill Lewis) onto a peach tree in the garden James acquires some new friends. This results in a giant peach big enough to live in and some giant sized insects who befriend him. We had a Green Grasshopper (played by a wise and cultured sparkly bearded, Matt Barber), Miss Spider (a friendly and flirtatious, French, Michaela Turner), a very miserable Earth Worm (with a stand out performance by Helen Roberts), Miss Ladybird (charmingly played by Fiona Evans) and a Centipede with lots of boots (well characterised by Grace Turner).  The main principals worked well together in a compact space, gaining confidence and momentum as the play progressed. 

They were helped along their way by an excellent junior ensemble of Lucas Tyldesley, Liv Barber, Poppie Chapman and Dylan Bolton who clearly narrated parts of the story. 

This was an amusing production with several moments of comedy, notably surrounding the miserable earthworm who laments the hopelessness of their situation and centipede’s fight with an Octupus.

A short but lovely production for Attfiled Theatre.

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