The Twits, Royal Court ***

The Twits is the latest of Dahl adaptions to reach London. Currently on the West End, both Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as well as Matilda are continuing to entertain and astonish crowds. There have also been adaptions of shows like Danny Champion of the World. This is perhaps due to the fact that the surreal writing of the genius and his heightened characters are at home on the stage. However, when I saw that The Twits was coming to the Royal Court, I was slightly surprised. Not that the characters wouldn't suit the stage; Mr and Mrs Twit are so strange and weird that would be instant hits on a stage; rather that the story-line of the novella is hardly complex. In fact there is no real story-line as such. Unless the Royal Court wanted to do a Beckett interpretation of Roald Dahl's classic, it would be difficult to translate the plot, or lack thereof, and to keep children entertained for two hours. What Enda Walsh has done is to pad out the story and introduces us to three new characters who are seeking to have their fairground returned after Mr and Mrs Twit 'stole' it from them. This addition works but the Dahl surrealism is lost. I hate to say it, but I feel that Enda Walsh needs to be more mischievous in his adaptation. It occasionally feels slightly tame in spite of Monica Dolan and Jason Watkins being far from tame in the title roles. They are magnificently horrible conveying the metaphor of the posh suppressing the lower classes well for the adults who get something out of the evening as well as the kids. The monkey's are good, as are the new additions but there is a love interest subplot between a monkey and the waltzer boy which seems slightly problematic. Is this the perfect adaptation of a Dahl book? Not by a long shot but it is a pretty good stab at one and results in an experience which is extremely pleasant.