Yesterday we took some Year 7s to see The BFG by Roald Dahl, adapted by David Wood, at the Derby Theatre. I took A along as well. It's one of our all-time favourite books, so we were unsure as to whether it would eclipse The Golden Compass as the winner of my Crap Adaptation of All Time award. We were pleasantly surprised, to say the least. It was FANTASTIC. It kept enough Dahliness to be clearly his work, but it was adapted brilliantly to the stage. The puppetry was amazing and the singing and dancing was sensational. It was absolutely hilarious, there was a LOT of laughter in the theatre, and there was a great deal of audience participation. I would recommend it unreservedly if you should get a chance to see it.
*Spoiler alert* They did change the ending, however. The BFG in the play refused the Queen's offer to live in the specially adapted new extension to the castle. Sophie stays living with the Queen, but the BFG goes off alone to return to his cave; promising to visit at least once a year. It made for a melancholy ending to what had been a rioutous play. For me it fitted though. As a child I remember wondering why the BFG didn't just move away rather than letting the other giants bully him. An attachment to his home would go some way to explaining his reluctance to leave the land of the giants.
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