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The Witches

The Witches (Kids show) production archive for QTIX code T0272511207. Details of all The Witches archived productions can be found under the QTIX code: S5589

Archive Listings

8 Jun 05
  to
12 Jun 05
Milton Keynes Theatre
Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
Performance Details => Venue archive
1 Jun 05
  to
4 Jun 05
Grand Theatre
Wolverhampton, West Midlands
Performance Details => Venue archive
17 May 05
  to
21 May 05
Theatre Royal
Norwich, Norfolk
Performance Details => Venue archive
26 Apr 05
  to
30 Apr 05
Mayflower Theatre
Southampton, Hampshire
Performance Details => Venue archive
20 Apr 05
  to
24 Apr 05
New Wimbledon Theatre
Outer London, Greater London
Performance Details => Venue archive
3 Mar 05
  to
2 Apr 05
Wyndham's Theatre
West End, Greater London
Performance Details => Venue archive
16 Feb 05
  to
20 Feb 05
Regent Theatre
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire
Performance Details => Venue archive
8 Feb 05
  to
12 Feb 05
New Theatre
Cardiff, Glamorgan
Performance Details => Venue archive
2 Feb 05
  to
6 Feb 05
Theatre Royal
Brighton, East Sussex
Performance Details => Venue archive
25 Jan 05
  to
29 Jan 05
The Lowry
Salford, Greater Manchester
Performance Details => Venue archive
19 Jan 05
  to
23 Jan 05
Richmond Theatre
Outer London, Greater London
Performance Details => Venue archive
1 Dec 04
  to
8 Jan 05
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Birmingham, West Midlands
Performance Details => Venue archive

Details

There is definitely trouble brewing at Bournemouth's Hotel Magnificent. Those nice respectable ladies in the ballroom are really witches holding their Annual General Meeting and plotting to turn all the children in Britain into mice! Can our plucky boy hero foil their dreadful plan? Suggested age range 7+

Cast/Performers

Dilys Laye (grandmother), Ruby Wax (Grand High Witch - London only), Dilys Laye (Grandmother), Giles Cooper, Isabel Ford, Chris Hawley, James Hirst, Peter Holdway, Katerina Jugati, Camilla Mathias, Keith Saha, Catherine Skinner

Creatives/Company

Author: Roald Dahl
Producer: Birmingham Rep
Adapted by: David Wood
Director: Jonathan Church
Design: Simon Higlett
Other: Paul Kieve (illusions)
Lighting: Mark Jonathan
Choreographer: Jenny Arnold

Reviews

Reviews


UK Theatre Web: 07Dec04: Star RatingStar RatingStar RatingStar Rating
The Witches by Roald Dahl, adapted by David Wood A Birmingham Rep and the David Wood Co in association with the Ambassador Theatre Group production. 6 December 2005 The Witches, tells the highly imaginative and very scary tale of a seven year old boy played by grown up Giles Cooper who encounters some ‘real witches’ at a holiday hotel by the coast. The wicked witches plan to exterminate all the children in England by taking over sweet shops, poisoning the children with chocolate and transforming them all into mice. The boy, with his friend Bruno played by Keith Saha and his Gran by Dilys Laye, takes on the witches and the villainess of the tale; the Grand High Witch played by Katerina Jugati, at their AGM and saves the day! This is a magical Roald Dahl story with some larger than life characters and was originally presented on stage back in 1992 and it even made film two years earlier. Jonathan Church creates a most entertaining production which is fast paced and combines many visual styles from mime to slapstick underpinning it all with perfectly clear dialogue which because of the ‘bite size’ chunks in which it was delivered kept the attention of the youngsters in the audience for the whole play and that is quite something. The sight of two mice trying to climb enormous stairs to get to a giant wrapped chocolate will remain with me for quite some time. However, I would like to have seen a much more frightening Grand High Witch with greater depth to the character as this would have been a stronger counter balance to the sweetness of the Gran and the innocence of the boys. The lighting and sound were perfect and the costumes particularly for the mice and frog were delightful, amusing the children in the audience and their parents too. The mice puppets were highly entertaining and at times just didn’t want to go where they were supposed. Luckily, Gran was on hand to help the little chap along and this added to the fun of the night. Designer Simon Higlett well known for the quality of his sets for the Rep provides just the right mix of filmed imagery, grand scenery and lush curtains to make this an ideal touring production and the show does go on tour after Birmingham taking in a West End engagement and UK theatres until the end of June 2005. All in all a very pleasant 1 hour 40 minutes, ideal for families and yes the ‘House Full’ sign could be seen outside the theatre last night so it looks like another success for the Rep. Clive Fuller

User Reviews

USER (07Dec04): The Witches by Roald Dahl, adapted by David Wood A Birmingham Rep and the David Wood Co in association with the Ambassador Theatre Group production. 6 December 2005 The Witches, tells the highly imaginative and very scary tale of a seven year old boy played by grown up Giles Cooper who encounters some ‘real witches’ at a holiday hotel by the coast. The wicked witches plan to exterminate all the children in England by taking over sweet shops, poisoning the children with chocolate and transforming them all into mice. The boy, with his friend Bruno played by Keith Saha and his Gran by Dilys Laye, takes on the witches and the villainess of the tale; the Grand High Witch played by Katerina Jugati, at their AGM and saves the day! This is a magical Roald Dahl story with some larger than life characters and was originally presented on stage back in 1992 and it even made film two years earlier. Jonathan Church creates a most entertaining production which is fast paced and combines many visual styles from mime to slapstick underpinning it all with perfectly clear dialogue which because of the ‘bite size’ chunks in which it was delivered kept the attention of the youngsters in the audience for the whole play and that is quite something. The sight of two mice trying to climb enormous stairs to get to a giant wrapped chocolate will remain with me for quite some time. However, I would like to have seen a much more frightening Grand High Witch with greater depth to the character as this would have been a stronger counter balance to the sweetness of the Gran and the innocence of the boys. The lighting and sound were perfect and the costumes particularly for the mice and frog were delightful, amusing the children in the audience and their parents too. The mice puppets were highly entertaining and at times just didn’t want to go where they were supposed. Luckily, Gran was on hand to help the little chap along and this added to the fun of the night. Designer Simon Higlett well known for the quality of his sets for the Rep provides just the right mix of filmed imagery, grand scenery and lush curtains to make this an ideal touring production and the show does go on tour after Birmingham taking in a West End engagement and UK theatres until the end of June 2005. All in all a very pleasant 1 hour 40 minutes, ideal for families and yes the ‘House Full’ sign could be seen outside the theatre last night so it looks like another success for the Rep. Clive Fuller
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CORONAVIRUS: All venues in the UK were shut down on March 16, 2020, and the restrictions were finally lifted on July 19, 2021. It is important to mention that the UK Theatre Web archive listings (iUKTDb) from March 2020 to July 2021 might not be accurate due to the lack of information regarding rescheduled and cancelled shows.

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