Now in its 15th season, the Phoenix Theatre for Children begins 2008 with the Columbus debut presentation of The BFG. Written by Roald Dahl, who also penned James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Matilda, The BFG (The Big Friendly Giant) is a remarkable story of two misfits – an orphan child and a giant - and their extraordinary adventure brimming with breathtaking action, white-knuckle suspense and side-splitting comedy.
David Wood, who adapted this production of The BFG for the stage, is traveling from the UK especially to attend this Columbus presentation. Wood is a British actor, playwright, composer, producer, director and author who has written nearly 50 original plays and stage adapted several of the best-loved children’s books from some of the most popular children’s authors including Dick King-Smith, Roald Dahl, and HRH The Prince of Wales. At the Queen’s 2004 Birthday Honours, Wood was designated an Officer of the British Empire (O.B.E.) for his service in literature and drama.
In order to conquer the challenge of staging a giant, actors will employ puppetry to visually maintain the size ratio of child to giant. When the actress playing the orphan child is on stage, the giant will be represented by a large, colorful mask. When the actor playing the giant is on stage, the actress portraying the child will use an identically-dressed puppet likeness to represent herself and the giant will speak directly to the puppet rather than to the actress.
The BFG will run Jan. 18-27 at the Capitol Theatre (77 S. High St.). Show times are Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children and can be purchased at the Ohio Theatre Ticket Office (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets and at www.ticketmaster.com.
Tickets are also available by calling 614-431-3600 or 614-469-0939.
The BFG tells the story of an orphan named Sophie, who after witnessing a giant engaged in mysterious activities, is snatched from her bed and whisked away to Giant Country. Sophie fears the giant is going to eat her, but is put at ease when she learns he is the Big Friendly Giant and it’s his job to collect, catalogue and deliver pleasant dreams to children as they sleep.
Sophie learns that Giant Country is full of mean giants who eat children, so she and the Big Friendly Giant enlist the help of the Queen of England by creating a nightmare for her which depicts all the terrible things the “child chompers” do. The Queen awakens to find Sophie perched on her windowsill and understands that the dream is real. She enlists the help of the royal army to do battle against the mean giants.