Review: GEORGE'S MARVELLOUS MEDICINE by Birmingham Stage Company at Sirifort Auditorium

You enter the venue and are welcomed by the sight of several children, probably hundreds of them as they trot around their parents. Roald Dahl has been a part of every childhood and has grown in to teach all of us a lot about the good and bad of things, in his own unabashed and hilarious way. The Birmingham Theatre Company brought to India its production of the novel, "George's Marvellous Medicine" and once again one could all but marvel at the storyteller. The play is championed by its excellent use of the modern technically equipped stage in addition to effective background score, building a darkness that fit the characters just like Dahl does it.

Little George is dismissed as "growing too fast" by his senile, cranky grandma and later it is her that spurts into a twelve feet giant, joyfully so, upon tasting George's marvellous medicine. Through such witty exchange of circumstances, we see a nuanced adaptation of the tale done to cater to its target audience- children. The creators employ several techniques to add to the literal effect of despair, chaos and frenzy in the form of levitating grandmothers, giant chickens and chemical air that can be smelt by the audience. The children in the audience have their complete attention and through many interactive Brechtian breaks, the characters engage with the crowd in a manner that pleases them and takes the story forward.

The impossibility of the replication of the medicine echoes the middle class dream and leaves the play with a contemplation that the adults stick with and the kids mostly look past. The shadow of a 'witchy' grandma and the prospect of having lost her forever takes the cranky grandmother narrative a bit too far and almost makes the viewer morose, but the recovery is quick and rational, true Dahl fashion and moralises the trifle significance of forgetting. Sentimental problems in ill-managed relationships find quirky medicinal solutions and good background score, reminding us to take life with a pinch of salt. The humour in the script and the characters is ever-present and invites chuckles, augmented by the detailed costume and prop usage. Erika Poole has tremendous presence and adds to the eccentricity of the grandma and Ed Thorpe is full of energy across the run of the show.

A conversation with Ms Pooja, head of the Amity Humanity Foundation, reveals that the performance in India was several years in the making. Having watched it with her family in Dubai, she realised that Indian audiences were thirsty for quality recreational content for kids. She brought the show in through several negotiations and is now planning to make this an annual event in order to foster more theatre for kids. The Amity Foundation used the proceeds of the show to build schools and libraries for unprivileged kids, a bunch of who even got around watching the show and meeting the cast. "It is essential that we in Delhi make an attempt towards creating more content and recreational spaces for kids. The response has been overwhelming; kids have sent letters and expressed their happiness", she adds.

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