A Taste of Dahl

"A Taste of Dahl" is an introduction to Dahl's writing, and will encourage Key Stage 2 children to read and enjoy more of it. It is at times serious, at times great fun - it is an entertainment, not a lecture! The play is an autobiographical adventure, in which I portray Dahl. Using only his own words, I show how Dahl's early life influenced his writing, how he created his classic books, and where his ideas may have come from. He found writing a challenge, but discovered that...'the only way to write a book , or a story, that children are going to fall in love with, is for it to have certain essential ingredients...a good fast plot, lots of humour, and a mixture of some extremely nasty people, and some nice people.' The play shows how certain themes recur, and how Dahl's often subversive attitudes embrace a belief in fairness, and the satisfying triumph of the underdog.

Excerpts are included from the following books, and help bring to life the man and his craft - the magic of a master storyteller......Boy, The BFG, The Witches, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Twits, Fantastic Mr Fox, George's Marvellous Medecine, Lucky Break, The Swan (from The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar ), Revolting Rhymes, Rhyme Stew, Dirty Beasts, The Roald Dahl Treasury.