James and the Giant Peach

James and the Giant Peach
Venue: Wrington Memorial Hall
Written by: Roald Dahl and adapted by David Wood
Directed: Julie Kingcott
Date: 08/02/2025
Noda: Rep Mike Purnell

What a great throwback to my childhood and teenage years. Who didn’t love a
Roald Dahl book. I think Charlie and the Chocolate factory I must have read four or
five times, closely followed by James and the Giant Peach. I was very much
looking forward to their story unfolding. I’d completely forgotten how bonkers the
story line is, but along with this comes the fascination of telling the story on stage
and how clever you need to be to bring it to the understanding of the audience.
This is where the Director was extremely clever and did just that.
Thanks for the lovely warm welcome upon arrival by Chris who also kindly showed
us to our seats ,which were perfect thank you, and the offer of drinks was very
kind.
Upon arrival I could see the staging was going to be very interesting. With the two
platforms either side that was going to create nice heights either side. We greatly
admired the artwork on the walls of the auditorium which I believe the company
were very heavily involved in. Even if you didn’t know the story you could kind of
see it drawn out in front of us. This was an excellent idea.
I really get the feeling of a lovely warm community here in Wrington, with wonderful
support from the audience. I honestly think you could’ve heard a pin drop all the
way through. I must give a special mention to the lighting on this production. It
really was superb, especially when the morning Sun came up and then turned into
the peach. Also the shark attack and the underwater scene were wonderfully
atmospheric. This was very well thought through and impressive.
This production also gives great scope for some good acting as it is very character
driven and I must say this Wrington has in abundance. I felt every character had
been so well thought through and drawn out. We need these larger than life
characters to keep this fantastical tale interesting. I must also commend the pace
of this production. It felt very slick and well rehearsed. The delivery of lines too was
on point. Very good casting and fantastic support from the company as a whole. A
great energy was created when you all came on together and I must say I had a
good look around and everyone was extremely focused and kept in character. The
music was certainly foot tapping too and kept our engagement in the production.
The live playing was certainly impressive also.

I must say how clever the inside of the peach scenes were. Not once did I feel the
space was too small as it was so cleverly directed and everyone had their moment
to shine and full marks as everyone took their opportunity and ran with it.
Full marks to the costume department as well. These were all extremely good. I
loved the elegance of “Ladybird” the hilarious look of the aunts and the cleverness
of spider, earthworm and Grass hopper. All the company felt suitably attired. This
was quite a task and certainly you rose to the challenge.

James: What good casting. You looked just right. Nice diction throughout too. You really
took us on this journey of discovery. We believed everything you told us. A very
fine actor in the making. Well done. Also it was nice to bring the other James on
and bow together for the last night. Nice touch.
Aunt Sponge/Aunt Spiker: What a comedy duo, incredibly vile but extremely entertaining. You kept the right
side of the line without verging on ‘panto’ which would be so easy to suddenly
take them into the ugly sister’s territory. I thought you both did a great job the
costumes worked a treat and the makeup was spot on. Good job done.
The Bugs: It almost seems unfair to lump you altogether but I’ve got to say superb casting.
Each and everyone of you came well across the footlights. You all had great style
and panache and worked so well as a team. I must say Earthworm had superb
comedy timing, every movement was perfect and so funny. Ladybird had a
gorgeous elegance about her and maintained it all through. We all adored
Grasshopper beautifully warm and clever playing. Really enjoyable.
Spider too was on top form and looked incredible along with centipede who
brought their characters completely to life. This was team playing at its best. Well
done guys.
Narrator: Congratulations on opening the show so well. You had us engaged right from the
off. You looked just the part with good diction and energy. Well done.
All other parts were played extremely well and what came across the footlights first
and foremost was what team players you all were. You could say this production
ticked all the boxes. The audience reaction on Saturday night confirmed this. Such
an entertaining night out that I shall remember for a long time.

Thank you for inviting me. Hope to see you all again soon.
Best wishes
Mike x

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