Showing @ Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh until Sat 3 Jan @ 19:00
If there is one thing Band Aid is good for, it’s reaffirming the sense of otherness between the developed and developing worlds; the problem with that being that Christmas is traditionally about coming and being together. Arguably, there’s no better way of celebrating togetherness than appreciating all the things that make us different. Or so you can surmise from the Lyceum’s production of prolific author Roald Dahl’s The BFG, adapted for stage by David Wood.
The story is essentially an advert for military intervention. Young Sophie finds herself in Giant Country, in the home of Lewis Howden’s Big Friendly Giant and the pair quickly bond over their dislike of the snozzcumber vegetable, fizzy drinks and farting. When the unlikely friends discover carnivorous Giants have been eating children, they consult the Queen who promptly summons her heads of the Army and Air Force to stop them. Problem solved.
The story is told through a family, make-shift staging it in their home. Becky Minto’s design is playful and colourful, reminiscent of childhood: a large doll-house style home is the main feature, with clouds hung behind as if on a mobile. A wall of coloured glass jars containing dreams denotes Giant Country. The characters multi-role play their parts in the story with puppets, props and costumes that could have been pulled from a child’s dressing up box. It’s a playing field, and celebration, of imagination and metaphor. With live music, song and dance, Andrew Panton’s direction is energetic and Howden’s Welsh wonder of a giant is endearing and enchanting. The show isn’t aimed at grown ups – it doesn’t pretend to be – but will surely delight younger audience members. Claire Knight’s comical Queen leads the goodies on to victory, imprisoning the baddies, restoring peace and harmony to the world. This production is full of festive spirit; it celebrates the differences between people of all shapes and size, regardless of who or what you are. Well, unless you have an appetite for humans.