The Twits Roald Dahl Oxford Playhouse until Saturday 9th June

The Belgrade Theatre Company's production of The Twits is a spectacle for children of all ages, combining a well-loved story from one of the world¹s best children's writers, with outstanding acting across the whole cast. David Wood's adaptation is not absolutely true to the text, and since the story is so well known by its target audience, you may find your son or daughter whispering in your ear from time to time that "it wasn't done like that in the book". Indeed, the build-up of suspense in some scenes is often pre-empted by children shouting out what is to come "..glass eye in the beer!" On balance though, this adaptation gives the stage version great direction and energy, and invites audience participation which helps to smooth over some of the very real difficulties I had envisaged with staging some of the more imaginative of Roald Dahl's flights of fancy. The story, as told in this adaptation, sees Mr. and Mrs. Twit living in a grotty caravan, continually trying to outwit each other by playing more and more nasty tricks on each other. It then occurs to Mr. Twit that he could make a living training monkeys to perform upside down in his own circus. The story follows the attempts of the monkeys, with the help of the Roly Poly Bird, to escape from their captors. The parts of the monkey children and the birds (who also find themselves persecuted by Mr. Twit) are played by children who display acrobatic skill and artistic ability much to their credit and that of the choreographers. Mr. and Mrs. Twit are played by Richard J Fletcher and Isabel Ford. Their ability to work intuitively together, their impeccable timing, and the expressions they are able to contort, really bring colour to the production. This production is able to go beyond the simplicity of pantomime, whilst retaining some of the audience participation elements which children find most appealing. For very young children up to the high school age, this production is highly recommended, and serves as a very good way to introduce children to the rich and diverse theatre we have here in Oxford.

Sherree Halliwell 05-06-01