Roald Dahl Day

Today was an imagination devoted day. The photography focus was small things, which required us to use our imagination. This tied in nicely with out field trip of the day to the Roald Dahl Museum and then our night exertion to watch the brand new play Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Musical. The museum was fun, but the play was my favorite part of the day; the play is absolutely magical!

However, I did take some pictures at the museum. My favorite is of Roald Dahl's reconstructed hut. This is where he did all his writing. He designed the whole place himself, including the "comfy chair" which he described as being difficult to get into. I watched a video clip of his demonstrating how the front pulls out and then traps him in, much like a highchair seat. He called it his "nest" or "womb," and described it as one of the best places in the world where he could write and escape from everything else. And the entire hut is full of various odds and ends that have either practical uses for a writer, or inspirational uses specific to Dahl. I tool a picture of this unique little statue for my photo focus.

I know it's the wrong book/author, but I hat to have Annette take a picture of me posing like Anne Shirley. I have always loved that kind of straw hat and the metal suitcase seemed to fit the theme. Even Topper is ready for travel...he has a lot more suitcase than I ever take.

I also took a picture of Topper with the polar bear, dragonfly, and mystery insect that I can't identify. I am going to say the mystery insect is from the opposite side of the planet from that dragonfly and then claim that all four corners of the earth are being represented in this photo! It's the Roald Dahl museum, I am allowed to imagine whatever I want and it will automatically be true.



Also, although I know a lot of people hated the Burton version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I still got excited over this display case. That can in full of sprinkles! The other thing I found fun were these pencil waste bins. I love that they have one specifically for each kind of waste and recyclable. So neat!

The Roald Dahl Museum is located in Great Missenden, which is an adorable little down with a lot of adorable British cottages. I took pictures of my favorite types of classic British cottages. If I were ever to make enough money that I could build my own home/cottage, these are the type of place I'd want to build. They are so charming.

We also located Roald Dahl's grave.

The best part of the day by far, though, was the play. I wish I'd known the words to each song because I would have sung along! They do a beautiful job too, of including countless homages to previous video productions, including part of "Pure Imagination" in the final scene. The play has been updated, with a more racially diverse cast, although this also includes some stereotyping. I felt even the stereotyping was tastefully done though, and very funny; more of an exaggeration than a mean portrayal. The whole play was hilarious, and my flatmate Liz and I were both very impressed by the way they handled Charlie's grandparents being bedridden, without making it boring. The beds could pull apart and participate in the dance number, without the grandparents ever leaving the them. I literally cried during the mom and dad's duet number. I always really appreciate how every individual adaptation of this story handles the parents complete and selfless love for their son, and their helplessness to give him the future they wish he could have.

The acting was terrific and the special effects even more so, with screens and moveable sets, and people in giant squirrel costumes, and some of the effects even interacting with the audience. And then there were little details to the characterization that I also appreciate, like the spit handshake that Charlie and his Grandpa share. I tend to think of such pacts as a crucial part of classic children's literature. It was a really, really well done show. I couldn't take picture of the actual play, but I did snap a few of the theater. Supposedly, according to one of my flatmates who read it on the theater's website, this Royal theater is one of the most haunted theaters. Haunted or not, it's gorgeous. They also had a picture of Mary Martin in the hall gallery, but everything was happening so fast, I didn't have a chance to take a closer look at the picture and figure out which plays she might have performed in at this theater. I am sure it wasn't Peter Pan, but who knows.

 

Unfortunately, I couldn't get good pictures of the gilding from the audience, so I snapped the below picture just before we left.