The Roald Dahl Story Company announces series of new theatre productions

The Roald Dahl Story Company has announced three exciting new theatre productions of The Enormous Crocodile, The Magic Finger, and a spectacular large-scale circus inspired by Dahl’s stories and featuring a range of beloved characters.

These productions join a major new musical of The Witches, co-produced with the National Theatre, which was announced last month, to form a growing slate of new theatre adapted from Roald Dahl’s work. Alongside these shows, the Roald Dahl Story Company currently has a further four productions under commission and development.

The Enormous Crocodile is a co-production with Leeds Playhouse and Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, playing in Leeds from 2 December 2023 - 6 January 2024 before heading to Regent’s Park in summer 2024.

This new musical version of Roald Dahl’s snappy picture book, about a large hungry crocodile searching for a child to devour, puts global contemporary music and puppetry at the heart of the production.

It will be brought to life with a playful, eclectic score by composer Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab (who performs under the band name Sinkane) and a rib-tickling book and lyrics by Suhayla El-Bushra, and additional music and lyrics from Tom Brady.

Directed by Emily Lim, the production will feature a menagerie of mischievous puppets by one of the UK’s leading puppetry directors and designers Toby Olié, who also co-directs, with set and costume design by Fly Davis.

Tickets are on sale to Leeds Playhouse’s Priority Access, Playhouse Pass Members and Under 30 Scheme now, with tickets on general sale from 1 June.

The Magic Finger is a co-production with Unicorn Theatre, and will be presented in a new theatrical reading for online release. This imaginative reading of Roald Dahl’s mischievous story will be directed by Milli Bhatia and designed by Shankho Chaudhuri. It will be released online for free to schools and families across the UK and beyond from Spring 2024.

Currently in development, the theatre division is also concocting a large-scale circus spectacle, that brings together beloved characters from the most popular Roald Dahl stories for the first time. This brand-new show is being cooked up by a stellar creative team including Olivier Award-winning director Polly Findlay, masters of circus spectacle Cirque Bijou, and Stephen Long and Iain Sharkey - the minds behind many of Derren Brown’s TV and stage illusions. Further details will be announced in due course.

Executive Producer Anna Schmitz and Artistic Director Jenny Worton said: “We couldn’t be more excited to be able to reveal these new productions, which demonstrate our ambitions in making new work. Far beyond simply ‘putting the book on stage’, we want to create original pieces of theatre, which both capture the timeless appeal, characters and spirit of Roald Dahl stories and speak powerfully to today’s audiences. From puppetry to musicals, free digital productions to large-scale events we’re working across theatrical forms and collaborating with extraordinary artists and producers to create shows that will illuminate the original stories in a new way, inspiring the next generation of theatregoers.”

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