REVIEWS: James and the Giant Peach
By Laura – Nov 7, 2008
Let us know what you thought of the play, and your experience. Adult AND children’s perspectives are welcome! Here are some topics to get you started.
- What was your favorite bug? Why?
- What did you think about the costumes?
- Who was the funniest character?
Thank you for contributing to our blog!
Tags: James and the Giant Peach, reviews
I think the play was well-done. The bugs did a great job of portraying themselves with movement and costume. They did a good job of capturing a fairly imaginative story on stage. And there is a happy ending.
However, both of my kids (5 and 7) found the first part very scary. The evil aunts frightened them. I think the story itself is too mature for kids in that range - parents dying, evil aunts (who also die), etc. This play is presented as age 4+ but is certainly more appropriate for older kids.
The length was perfect — just over an hour, I think it was. I liked that the costumes required some imagination to really work, i.e. the centipede didn’t really have 42 legs, the earthworm had human feet, etc. The characters were distinct personalities; I am probably going to read the book now, to find out more about them! One issue for us in the balcony: the music sometimes drowned out the songs, and song lyrics can be difficult for a child to follow even when the music is soft; I whispered the choice lines in my boys’ ears so they wouldn’t miss the fun.
The play was delightful. My granddaughter Caprial, who is 9, thought it was wonderful. Her favorite charactors were the spider and the ladybug. She especially loved going backstage.
I was impressed with the construction of the set pieces and the ease they were moved around on and above the stage.
We are anxious for the next production.
Honestly, If I hadn’t been there with an 8-year-old person who thought “James’s” performance looked very fun, and wished she could have had his part, I would not have stayed to see the end. The sets were deliciously impressive, but I wish I had seen Hansel and Gretel at NWCT that weekend instead. Did any of you see “Go Dog Go” there? I took the same person to that show expecting to sit through a kind of kiddie something but it was fabulous–more than entertaining. . .couldn’t believe I was laughing so hard. By the way, I didn’t think your production was at all scary. Maybe parents should read R. Dahl themselves before buying tickets. Take care before reading “The Magic Finger.”
I thought the production was great! We all loved the earthworm as he was the funniest character in the whole play. We kept waiting for him to say something so we could laugh. I was a bit surprised that James himself had very few lines in the whole thing!! I know he is young but I thought he would have been more involved. Also the music drowned out the voices and sometimes it was even hard to hear the actors and i was in the third row! The length of the play was perfect. The costumes were great too. the kids enjoyed the meet and greet afterwards as well.
Oregon Children’s Theatre strives to provide exceptional and memorable theater experiences for the young audiences we serve. We welcome all feedback and reviews, good or bad.
Part of the fun of going to see a play is the opportunity to talk about it afterwards: What did you like? What did you not like? How would you have done it differently if you were the director? Why do you think a character behaved the way they did? What part was scary? What part was funny? What part was boring or confusing?
Learning to make discerning judgments about a performance is an important step toward becoming a life-long fan of the performing arts. If you bring a child to the theater, we encourage you to get them talking about the experience.
Most of our plays are based on great works of children’s literature. We encourage teachers and parents to read the book before coming to a show – not only to be prepared for the play, but also because it’s fun to discover how a book is brought to life on the stage. “James and the Giant Peach” is recommended and used in schools from the 2nd grade up. Many of Dahl’s stories deal with children who triumph over adults who are flawed characters, such as James Henry Trotter’s mean Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker. They often include tragic events that are given a whimsical treatment, such as James’ parents being stampeded by a rhinoceros. With all of the plays we produce, we hope that parents, teachers and children will leave with their heads full of ideas to talk about, whether discussing the theatrical elements of the production, or the themes and issues raised in the story.
While we try to make each play a memorable experience, we certainly regret if the dominant memory is of being afraid! Many elements of the theater experience can be frightful for some children; for instance, when the house lights go dark, or if the play incorporates sound and light effects. Frankly, it’s hard to predict what will be scary for different children; a scene that leaves one four-year-old unfazed may be terrifying to an eight-year-old. If you ever attend an OCT play and find you have to leave because it is too disturbing for your child, please contact our office and we will try to get you into a more appropriate show.
In response to Comment #4, we agree that the sets and costumes for “James” are spectacular. We’re pleased that your child enjoyed the production – our most important objective. Of course, we always hope that the adults accompanying children will be equally entertained and have a good time. As for the production of “Go Dog Go” you enjoyed at NWCT, Portland is fortunate to have more than one theater company producing plays for young audiences. In our book, anything that parents and schools do to introduce children to the arts is a good thing.
We hope you’ll come back to see “Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type” in January. The play may be based on a simple picture book for young readers, but it has been expanded into a fun musical with singing, dancing and hilarious dialogue that we’re sure older children and adults will also enjoy.
Ross McKeen, Managing Director
Great bugs. Lively performance. Perfect length. But why these silly accents? Even opera productions pay tribute to people’s desire to understand the story in addition to enjoying the music and singing.
My five year old son and I attended the show on Saturday evening and it was delightful. We both loved the sets and costumes - very imaginative and beautifully done! We listened to an audiobook of James and the Giant Peach this summer on a long car trip, and I wondered how it could be condensed to just an hour, but all the key elements of the story were there. Great adaptation of a wonderful book. We look forward to attending future OCT performances.
My son is 3 and this was the first play he’s attended in a theater setting. He loved it. We’d seen the movie version of James and the Giant Peach which helped him relate to the story. The beginning of the play was a little scary for him but once the story focused more on James and the bugs, he was totally engaged for the entire performance!
This was my daughter’s first play (she is 4) and she loved it. Her favorite character was the Spider, I loved the earthworm, he was hillarious. I think all the actors were cast wonderfully. The costumes were great. They were not elaborate or over the top, they were simple and full of imagination-which is what kids should see.
It was hard to hear sometimes in the balcony, and the singing was hard to understand sometimes, but overall we really enjoyed. The length was perfect, any longer and our wiggle worm would have been going nuts. Thanks for the great play and we will be sure to come to another.
Overall, I enjoyed seeing this production with my 5-year old son. But perhaps because we saw the animated movie version of the story first, we missed seeing some more of the imaginative details of the journey across the ocean worked out on stage — a better interpretation of the seagulls, sharks, bat-creature etc. That is where the movie really shined. Although I think it is probably a very challenging story to stage. I am anxious to read the book now and wished we had done that first! My son most enjoyed seeing all the actors up close in their costumes and makeup afterwards.
Beautiful set design!
My daughter and I attended the performance on Saturday eve. We were very impressed with the show.
I loved the spider character the best, but my daughter’s favorite bug was the Lady Bug.
My daughter Isabelle (who is 8 yrs old) and I both agreed that the funniest character was the Earthworm. We thought that the costumes were wonderful. They really gave you a feel for the characters. We were very entertained by the performance and plan on attending “Click Clack Moo”. The running time for the performace (approx 60 min) was very appropriate for my daughters age.
You guys did a spectacular job and we have reccommended this performance to many friends and acquantences.
I am 9 years old.My favorite bug was the earth worm.The earth worm is my favorite because all he does is say he is blind and cries.Mostly when ever James said “we have to see that the birds can hold us up” then earth worm starts crying because he can’t see.I think the costumes were SPECTACULAR!!!My favorite costume was the cloud people’s dresses .To me they looked like wedding dresses.I think Aunt Sponge was the funniest because she was talking weird and eating weird.