The Twits, based on the renowned book by Roald Dahl and adapted for the stage by Tim Bray (QSM), is a funny and charmingly disgusting story for the whole family.
Bray and company have impeccably brought Dahl’s kooky, horrid characters to life, complete with fun physical gags, a wonderfully stylized design, and lively musical numbers (written by Marshall Smith).
After being one of the first shows staged by the company (1992), The Twits had a bumpy road to remounting, being cancelled three times in as many years due to Covid. Now, finally, it is here to delight audiences once again, bringing the timeless story to a new generation of kids.
If you’re a fan of Dahl’s story, you’ll be excited to see it faithfully adapted, with all the classic Twit pranks. Glass eye in the beer, frog in the bed, worm spaghetti, and the shrinks.
Mr and Mrs Twit are performed with great physicality and immaculate comedic timing by Dylan Underwood and Martha Teleiai respectively.
The loveable cast of characters are all there to give The Twits their satisfying comeuppance – the hopelessly naïve Gas Meter Reader (Terry Hooper), the cheeky monkey Muggle-Wump (Jacinta Compton), and the colourful Roly-Poly Bird (Isabella Temm). Matilda Chua and Francesca Browne fill out the world and bring the puppets (boldly designed by Vicki Slow) to life.
The set (designed by Rachael Walker) plants us firmly in the world of The Twits from the get-go. The bland and lopsided house has a ramshackle quality mirrored by the monkey cage. Earthy tones tie everything together, highlighting the dirtiness of the titular characters, and even the trees have a stylized edge evocative of Quentin Blake’s iconic illustrations.
The musical numbers add another fun element and help keep the story nicely paced. I especially loved Mr Twit’s rasping jazzy style – a hilarious choice performed excellently by Underwood. Muggle-Wump’s solo involved a nice interactive section that will be a lot of fun for younger kids especially.
But don’t think that you can’t enjoy this production as an adult because you certainly can! An assortment of solid gags, like the birds speaking in posh accents, clever staging and well-pitched performances tow a fine line between childlike silliness and a more refined absurdity. For example, the choice to have the puppeteers react when the birds were taken from them by Mr Twit hilariously extends the world of the play into its very performance. Everything is invested with an earnestness and aliveness that one can’t help but be endeared by.
It is exactly these qualities that, for me, make Tim Bray shows consistently delightful to watch. There is always an element of stage magic about them. The cohesive and spellbinding worlds the company can create are a testament to the passion of its team. Here, as usual, Steve Marshall’s lighting design meets the set design and staging to give a sense of the world as expansive, not merely confined to the area of the stage.
Children’s theatre deserves to be this well thought out, not only because kids will spot a lack of authenticity from a mile away, but also because it is this early access to quality theatre that will expand the hearts and minds of the next generation.
Tim Bray Theatre Company have successfully captured the fun of The Twits. The ugliness, playfulness, rambunctiousness, and the delightful wickedness of the main characters that has continued to draw fascination since the story was first published in 1980.
Erin O’Flaherty
The Twits run through 7 October at The Pumphouse Theatre. For tickets, click HERE