In any half decent morality tale for children the message is smuggled in as part of a jolly good story and as storytellers go Roald Dahl is second to none. Unlike any of the other great English children’s storytellers he found a particular vein, neither charming nor whimsical, that can invoke squeals of deliciously gruesome delight at the follies and foibles of grown-ups. He taps into that dark strain that weaves through European folk/fairy tales and injects a great dollop of humour. The method is a kind of reductio ad absurdum; where people can be nasty to animals let’s make them very nasty to animals and see where that gets us. Sam Holcroft’s adaption, directed by Maria Alberg has found the vein, leaving one with absolutely no doubt (should there have been any) that this is a Dahl story in the first minute or so, with a nasty farmer leaning out of one of the Theatre Royal boxes and shooting a poor defenceless, sweet little bird that was doing nobody any harm, but singing its little heart out. Beastly Mr Bunce!
Greg Barnett’s freshly unwrapped Lord Flashheart of a Mr Fox begins as a, ‘do it all’,’ leave it all to me’, terror of the henhouse. By the end of the story and having come up against the implacably single minded farmer Bean (Richard Atwill) and his equally nasty farmer chums, Boggis and Bunce, he has learned the value of friendship and cooperation. Fantastically cunning he may be, but everyone in the countryside family has their own special contribution to make when it comes to getting out of a fix.
Ms Alberg zips her characters through the action with a joyful zest, which is given an extra bounce courtesy of Arthur Darvill’s jaunty score as delivered by the excellent onstage band. Each animal is a gem of characterization from a talented cast that has built a fine rapport. The songs too, fit nicely into the storyline and help develop the characters whilst moving the action along.
This is one of those shows, based on a familiar and popular story that will hopefully do a great service in developing a taste for theatre in a young audience. To that end the creative team have done a great job in lifting a story from the page and making it into a theatrical experience that many may well look back on as a seminal visit to a live performance. ★★★★☆ Graham Wyles 31st May 2017
