By Roald Dahl
Directed By Tom Robenolt
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Production Overview
Cast List / Production Team
Director's Notes
Photo gallery
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The Witches By Roald Dahl Directed By Tom Robenolt On this page: |
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The Witches is Roald Dahl’s semi-autobiographical tale of being a young Boy.
After overcoming the personal tragedies of the deaths of his father and sister, Dahl grew up to be one of the world’s most respected writers of children’s fiction.
The main character in The Witches-like Dahl himself-suffers a loss and faces tremendous obstacles, but never gives up.
In The Witches a Boy is orphaned after a car accident. Sent to live with his Grandmother the Boy is trained to see the Witches that surround us, disguised as normal women.
When the Boy and his Grandmother travel to the south of England they stumble upon the annual meeting of the Witches of England. At the meeting is the Grand High Witch of All the World. She is about to present the Witches of England with an ultimate weapon. A potion that will turn all the children of England into mice.
She demonstrates the potion on the Boy and his friend Bruno.
After the transformation the Boy and his Grandmother concoct a scheme to stop the Witches.
Director Tom Robenolt wants to bring Dahl’s style of storytelling to the stage. The world can be thrilling, both dangerous and exciting. A dark cloud with a silver lining.
Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre presents an all-ages show each season.
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THE HEROES THE JENKINS FAMILY THE WITCHES THE FAMILIAR |
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PRODUCTION TEAM Scenic Design—Meghan Buchanan
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When I was approached about directing The Witches I immediately decided that I wanted this children’s show to be unlike any other I had seen. I wanted to make it into something that both children and their parents could appreciate and enjoy.
After reading David Wood’s adaptation of The Witches I sought inspiration from many places. I decided after reading many books that this production needed to reflect the childhood of Roald Dahl. It may seem like an atypical family play—only because it is more autobiographical than one might think.
Roald Dahl had a dark, adventurous childhood full of outrageous stories and mishaps. Once he was under the impression that eating black licorice would cause him to sprout a tail, shrink, and turn into a mouse. He also had a nasty headmaster whose balding head would turn red and splotchy at the first signs of anger. Sometimes he even found himself secretly placing dead mice into candy jars—just for the scare of the sweet shop owner. The Witches is a celebration of just a few of these stories.
Like any child (or grown-up) Roald Dahl had many obstacles to conquer—some of which are reflected through the eyes of the character “Boy”. “Boy” represents the life of every child and every adult. He portrays the growing pains of youth through which we all must persevere in order to mature.
Tom Robenolt
Director
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