Roald Dahl’s The Twits

Spare Parts Puppet Theatre’s World Premiere of Roald Dahl’s The Twits is exactly what you would hope for in an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s work; a fun filled, silly but clever romp, with lots of laughs.

Co-created by Michael Barlow and Humphrey Barlow, it takes the essence of the novel and creates a fun puppet led production. Suitable for children from about 5 upwards, it is a wonderful introduction to the novel and will be enjoyed by Roald Dahl fans of any age.

The performers Geordie Crawley and Jessica Harland-Kenny are wonderfully energetic and portray a number of characters including the horrible Mr and Mrs Twit, with excellent team-work. Leon Hendroff’s puppet design is quirky and almost Picasso-esque giving a wonderfully surreal edge to the story, as Mr and Mrs Twit delight in playing mean tricks on each other.

As would be expected from a story by Dahl, as well as being very funny, there are of course strong and important messages - especially to treat others as one would like to be treated.

A great holiday romp that might be the perfect solution for siblings that are at each others’ throats mid-January.

Kimberley Shaw

Photographer: Jessica Wyld