Local theatre group take on some Revolting Rhymes

Wednesday 13 July 2016

A local theatre group is turning some of the world’s best loved fairytales on their heads and are busy rehearsing for a ‘revolting’ new show of children’s poetry this week.

ArtsCentreTheatre are taking to the stage with Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes from today to 17 July.

They've taken on ancient Greek Comedy to Shakespeare to Brecht and beyond, but this is the first time the cast have ever done a children's show.

They say this production has more challenges in its one hour long performance than they have faced in all of their previous shows but they are still promising ‘a plethora of puppetry, a smidgeon of shadow-play, a modicum of mime, a cast of several and a pinch of audience participation’ to bring Dahl’s wicked verses to life.

Director Jason Kenyon said: “In ACT’s 13 year history we have never done a show specifically aimed at children and, given that during that time I have become a grandfather twice, I thought it was about time that we did.

“Roald Dahl was an obvious choice for source material but turning a set of poems into a theatrical performance (this isn’t a poetry recital folks) has been a challenging exercise. We’ve had to rediscover our inner child for this show because what we as adults may find hilarious may not be nearly as amusing or entertaining for a seven or eight year old; and if they aren’t entertained we haven’t done our job.

“Then, of course there’s the major challenge of creating nearly twenty puppets from scratch (and a certain amount of fabric); a herculean task undertaken by the heroic Yvonne Bulstrode and Fi Marchant, who have literally worked miracles.”

It's been a particular challenge for two members of the cast - Fi Marchant and Yvonne Bulstrode who have only have mastered the basics of puppetry, they took on the job of making them all from scratch too, having never made puppets before in their lives!

Yvonne said: “Definitely a new discipline learned. The art of working with fur when your hands are covered in spray glue and then trying to thread a needle has been my highlight. The challenge for some was not having the patterns available to purchase and watching endless hours of YouTube videos on where do I start.”

Fi said: “A huge amount of fun but very challenging to get every puppet to look distinct and recognisable as the character. Certainly my biggest theatrical challenge to date!”

The show starts on Thursday 14 July with performances in the Benjamin Meaker Theatre at 7 pm and matinees on the Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm and 5 pm. There's no show though on Friday 15 July.

Tickets are just £5 for the special preview evening on the Thursday, otherwise they cost £10 for adults and £5 for children. You can get yours by calling the Box Office on 700444.