Twisted, but is it twisted enough?

Roald Dahl. Aside from traumatic experiences in chocolate factories and child eating giants, surely that kindly figure looking out from the back of his books was as child friendly as they get? Short answer: he wasn’t. There was another side that many are less aware of, his anthologies of short stories directed towards a far more adult audience. Some of these stories have now been adapted for the stage in Roald Dahl’s Twisted Tales. Gone are the Oompa-Loompas, and all that’s left are tales of revenge and a disembodied optic nerve.

Adapted by Jeremy Dyson, member of comedy group The League of Gentlemen and self proclaimed fan of the works of Roald Dahl, Twisted Tales presents five of Dahl’s short stories and provides an overarching narrative linking them, leaving a more than able cast to portray a real bevy of characters, capturing all manners of grotesqueries.

Set in the 1950s, the play takes the form of a story read by a child, about a train of stoic commuters whose lives are affected by an enigmatic stranger who delights in entering day after day and imparting a range of tales, all of which unfold before our eyes.

The decision to present separate stories may have perhaps worked better had the tone of them been more consistent. Although all five tales provide a showcase of human cruelty, the stories themselves vary dramatically from humorous to darkly sinister. Indeed with Dahl’s penchant for dark humour, I was hoping that this would be more akin to Dyson’s recent all-out scarefest Ghost Stories, which he co-wrote and directed.

When it reaches the right balance of unsettling terror and humour towards the end, it’s thrilling

That isn’t to say that the play isn’t frightening, indeed, when it reaches the right balance of unsettling terror and humour towards the end, it’s thrilling. One Jamaican set tale details a wager between a brash young American and a sinister Spaniard involving a lighter, a cleaver and a little finger. The audience gasped collectively throughout. Spine chilling stuff – I loved it.

The set design does an excellent job of dealing with the ever changing narrative, with a revolving stage ushering in new environments and characters quickly and ensuring that the pace is kept high. At 80 minutes, it definitely doesn’t overstay its welcome, especially with some terrific payoff towards the climax.

You can tell that there is both a great deal of appreciation for Dahl’s tales in all aspects of the production, and after a shaky start they are really done justice, leading to one distinctly child unfriendly story that goes out on a high.

Lyric, Hammersmith until 26th Feb