A jolly evening was had by one and all at our 2011 Autumn production of Roald Dahl favorites, starting with 'The Twits' and followed by two of his 'Tales of the Unexpected': “Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat” and “Parson's Pleasure”. This varied but typical collection of Dahl’s work combined
slap-stick humour with his hallmark twist-in-the-tail plotting, and featured an enthusiastic cast spanning all ages from the village and even gave the audience a chance to participate in the acting. And further adding to the evening were jocular
renditions of ‘Little Red Ridding Hood’ and the ‘Three Little Pigs’, both expertly recited by one of the youngsters from Norton St. Philip.
The Twits
The disgustingly smelly and nasty Twits resolve to make their fortune by launching a unique new circus act featuring moneys performing upside down. But where to find the monkeys?
Off to darkest Africa they go in search of unsuspecting prey and capture the Mugglewump family, who are cruely trained for the stage by only being fed is they agree to perform while stood on their heads.
Birds arrive on the sceen and the Twits resolve to catch them and cook them for ‘Bird Pie Night’, and seek to snare them by painting glue on the trees and monkey cage. If only the Mugglewump’s could speek to the birds and warn them not to land on the glue!
Enter the Mugglewump’s friend, the Roly-Poly Bird, who speaks fluent ‘Bird’ and with the audience warns them about the glue. Then by carefully picking the key of the cage from Mr. Twits pocket, the Mugglewump’s escape and, with the help of the Roly-Poly Bird and the birds, resolve to teach the Twits a lesson...
by turning everything upside down; the trees, cage, moon, even everyone in the audience; and so convince the Twits it must be they that are upside down and things can only be set aright if they turn upside down themselves.
Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat
Bored with her pedantic dentist husband, the lascivious Mrs. Bixby again departs for her monthly rendezvous with that wealthy scoundrel, The Colonel. But he ends their eight year liaison with the gift of an expensive mink coat.
But how can she keep the coat without her tedious husband knowing how she came by it? How can she endure his finicky precise nature, his constant working at the office, and way of making her fell more like one of his patients than his wife? She just had to find a way!
Why not say I found a pawn ticket and then have him reclaim it! How could I possibly know what it would be? And when he returns with the mink coat, it would be mine! But Mrs. Bixby is aghast to find that her husband returns with a pitiful fur boa… and his secretary has my coat!
Parson's Pleasure
Cyril Boggis, a devious antiques dealer, tours the countryside seeking valuable items in the guise of a parson, as clergymen are more readily admitted when surreptitiously inspecting homes. And country folk can be such a suspicious lot.
But joy of joys, can it be true? Here of all places he finds a priceless Chippendale Commode, worth thousands! He’ll be rich, even famous, but how to get it for a song? So, talking down its value on the pretense of perhaps finding use for its legs and the rest only being suitable for firewood, he agrees to buy the commode for a paltry £20, then exits to fetch his car.
But the obliging locals, doubtful that such an enormous item would fit in a car, cut off the legs and help the parson with his firewood.
