‘Living, breathing cartoon’: Dahl's James and the Giant Peach comes to life

The mind of Roald Dahl is once again taking the stage, with Shake & Stir Theatre co putting on their fifth Dahl adaptation at QPAC, James and the Giant Peach.

Creative Producer Nick Skubij , Adaptor Nelle Lee and Director Ross Balbuziente of James and the Giant Peach. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

For more than a decade, Brisbane’s Shake & Stir Theatre co have taken the eccentric mind of the world’s number one storyteller from page to stage across the country, attracting sold-out crowds from multiple generations.

Having claimed the exclusive theatrical rights to adapt Roald Dahl’s books in Australia, the leading performance company is set to take the stage at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre for the world premiere of their sixth Dahl adaptation - James and the Giant Peach.

Touring Australia and New Zealand since 2006, Shake & Stir have produced annual seasons of mainstage and in-school productions across major metropolitan and regional centres.

The season will mark the fifth Dahl adaptation for Shake & Stir. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

For the company’s dynamic trio of Artistic Directors, Ross Balbuziente, Nelle Lee and Nick Skubij, adapting Dahl’s work is one of timeless laughter and entertainment.

Balbuziente says the beauty of the performance is not only the imaginative story, but also its visual centrepiece on stage which incorporates video design to create a living, breathing cartoon.

“We’re really fortunate to have a long standing and very trustworthy relationship with the Roald Dahl story company that was formed over a decade ago now,” Balbuziente said.

“So there’s a great deal of trust and respect for the work that Shake & Stir put into these Dahl adaptations.”

Previous Dahl shows by the contemporary performance company include Revolting Rhymes and Dirty Beasts, The Twits, George’s Marvellous Medicine and Fantastic Mr Fox.

Coming off the back of a sold-out tour of Fantastic Mr Fox, Balbuziente said he had a creative vision to follow with another Dahl story that heavily encorporated video design and cast interaction with large scale projections.

“Given the epics of journey type storytelling that is present in James and the Giant Peach, it’s been a joy, working out creative solutions to some of the chunks of this book that do require sort of epic staging,” he said.

James and the Giant Peach will be Ellen Bailey’s third Dahl production with Shake & Stir, previously performing roles in The Twits and Fantastic Mr Fox. She said the joy of being involved is embodying playful and larger than life characters.

“Kids today love them (Dahl books), adults remember them from when they were children, they are stories…that have stood the test of time in terms of their longevity and his ability to captivate an audience,” she said.

“They’re also extremely visual - the Quentin Blake illustrations, we sort of all got those in our head when we think of Roald Dahl, so I think Shake & Stir’s ability through stage…bring that visual spectacular to life.”

James and the Giant Peach will be showing at QPAC’s Playhouse from March 30 to April 7.