I thought I'd give another one a go especially as I am coming to the end of the Roald Dahl novel with my eight-year-old son.
As soon as we saw the set for Danny the Champion of the world at South Hill Park, Bracknell, I had a inkling that this was a more professional adaptation.
There were a few pheasants pecking around the stage before the ensemble come on singing folk songs with a inquisitive Danny peaking over the caravan horse stable door.
Ten-year-old Danny (Michael Lyle) become embroiled in his dad, William's (Alex Griffen-Griffiths) desire to resume his poaching habit in nouveau rich's Mr Hazell's wood.
The single parent is rescued by his son after breaking his ankle in a manpit set by the puffed up face of the Rolls Royce driving arrogant man who want to put on a magnificant shooting party for the well-to-do of the county.
Danny comes up with an ingenious idea to sedate the pheasants in a bid to do a mass poaching to thwart Mr Hazel's advancement.
All the action takes place around the caravan that revolves to turn into wood and the filling station owned by William.
Instead of the music being performed off stage the actors revolve in their cahracter before retreating to a hut also onstage and picking up a accordian, flute, or drum to provide the sound affects for the actors on stage.
However, no one could have predicted the children's in the audience's own sound affects when Mr Hazell finally realises he has been duped.
Despite being the second tallest on the stage Lyle became Danny not just because of his children's PJs or his school uniform but his pouting lips and wide-eyed innocence that is hard as an adult to capture.
Robert Oliver was superb as the put upon gamekeeper who runs around the stage trying to capture William and Danny as they go about this audacious plan, complete with him playing his out sound affects, giving moments of comic relief.
Mr Hazell's bluster was magnificently portrayed by John Last who growled out his lines in his contempt of all those beneath him in the village.
But for me thetriumph of the London Contemporary Theatre's adaption of the play was that it was not patronising, not trying to be a cartoon or something off the tele, just good theatre.
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