James and the Giant Peach, a hit children’s classic, was written by Roald Dahl in 1961. This novel has had multiple adaptations over the years, including a 1996 film and a 2010 musical. These days you don’t hear too much about this story, although you may have at least heard about the Grand Oaks performance that happened once a day from September 22nd to September 24th. 

The performance by the Grand Oaks High School theatre crew was absolutely amazing. From the props, to the stage, to the background music, everything went hand in hand to make the perfect masterpiece. 

The play’s simple nature gave it some charm; the inside of the peach was just a few pinkish-orange blocks, but the background screen made the audience feel immersed in the stage play. 

Even though the group spent most of the time on the blocks, the screen would change and make the crew of human-bugs and James feel like they were in a different place. From the two evil aunts’ peach tree in their front yard to a river to the Empire State Building in New York, the screen would change depending on where the characters were, but the blocks remained.

The cast of very different characters makes for a wide range of jokes. One of the more noticeable recurring jokes was making fun of the Earthworm for being blind, whether on purpose or not. Earthworms as a bug are known to be blind, using light contacting their skin to move around But the writers were able to make this into the funniest joke in the performance. 

 

Speaking of great performances, the centipede’s stood out from the rest. This eccentric bug swept the entire crowd away with their outgoing and not-afraid-to-speak-their-mind personality. It was reminiscent of a 1970’s performer with a cane and top-hat, with the accent and sudden outbursts into song and dance, and even the brief use of the aforementioned Earthworms walking stick.

The play was amazing from start to finish, from the abusive aunts, to the rapids, to New York, there wasn’t a single boring second. The peach on top was the ending scene, where James and the gang are flown to New York, landing on the Empire State Building. 

The crew are hailed as heroes and the kids of the city feasted on the peach, leaving only the pit remaining, which is put in Central Park as a monument, and James lives in as a house. It then goes through the endings of each bug, one becoming mayor, the other a violinist, etc. etc.. 

This amazing ending gave a perfect conclusion to a perfect performance, and left the viewer satisfied as they walked out of the auditorium. Grand Oaks High School theatre team really did a good job, and we can all say that we can’t wait to see more.