
Back to All News
The Roald Dahl Story Company announces series of new theatre productions, developed and produced by its in-house theatre division
Entertainment
25 May 2023
GlobalUnited Kingdom (Great Britain)
Link copied to clipboard
The Roald Dahl Story Company today announced three exciting new theatre productions:
A new musical for young audiences of The Enormous Crocodile, co-produced with Leeds Playhouse and Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.
A new theatrical reading of Roald Dahl's The Magic Finger presented for online release for schools and families, co-produced with the Unicorn Theatre.
A spectacular large-scale circus, which is currently in development, inspired by Roald Dahl's stories and featuring a range of beloved characters.
The productions have been created and developed by the Roald Dahl Story Company's in-house theatre division. Led by Artistic Director Jenny Worton and Executive Producer Anna Schmitz, the theatre division was set up in 2018 to create and produce innovative productions inspired by Roald Dahl stories in collaboration with world-class artists and leading theatre producers.
These productions join a major new musical of The Witches, co-produced with the National Theatre, which was announced last month, to form a growing slate of new theatre adapted from Roald Dahl's work. Alongside these shows the Roald Dahl Story Company currently has a further four productions under commission and development.
Executive Producer Anna Schmitz and Artistic Director Jenny Worton said:
We couldn't be more excited to be able to reveal these new productions, which demonstrate our ambitions in making new work. Far beyond simply putting the book on stage', we want to create original pieces of theatre, which both capture the timeless appeal, characters and spirit of Roald Dahl stories and speak powerfully to today's audiences. From puppetry to musicals, free digital productions to large-scale events we're working across theatrical forms and collaborating with extraordinary artists and producers to create shows that will illuminate the original stories in a new way, inspiring the next generation of theatregoers.
Talking about The Enormous Crocodile and The Magic Finger they added,
With The Enormous Crocodile we wanted to make a show that speaks to four-year-olds, delights their older siblings and treats their parents to some brilliant music. The music is like Dahl's stories in its capacity to capture audiences of all generations. It is at once dark, funny and compulsively moreish!
We are passionately committed to reaching new audiences with our work and are delighted that the online storytelling production of The Magic Finger will ensure that young people from all backgrounds can enjoy a theatricalised reading of this story in their classroom for the first time.
Further detail on the forthcoming Roald Dahl theatre shows:
THE ENORMOUS CROCODILE
A co-production with Leeds Playhouse and Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
For my lunch today I would like a nice juicy little child!
The ENORMOUS crocodile is weaving his way through the jungle in search of delicious little fingers and squidgy podgy knees. Only the other jungle creatures can foil his secret plans and clever tricks, but they're going to have to find a large amount of courage to stop this greedy brute.
This new musical version of Roald Dahl's snappy picture book, about a large hungry crocodile searching for a child to devour, puts global contemporary music and puppetry at the heart of the production.
It will be brought to life with a playful, eclectic score by composer Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab (who performs under the band name Sinkane) and a rib-tickling book and lyrics by Suhayla El-Bushra (Arabian Nights, Royal Lyceum Edinburgh; The Long Song, Chichester Festival Theatre and Channel 4's Ackley Bridge), and additional music and lyrics from Tom Brady (The Butterfly Lion, Chichester Festival Theatre; Musical Supervisor & Arranger for Guys & Dolls, Bridge Theatre).
Directed by Emily Lim (Brainstorm, Company Three / National Theatre; Pericles, National Theatre), the production will feature a menagerie of mischievous puppets by one of the UK's leading puppetry directors and designers Toby Oli , (Spirited Away, Imperial Theatre Tokyo; Pinocchio, National Theatre; 101 Dalmatians, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre) who also co-directs. Set and costume design is by Fly Davis (I Want My Hat Back, National Theatre; The Ocean at the End of the Lane, National Theatre/West End).
James Brining, Artistic Director of Leeds Playhouse said: Developing any new work is always an exciting process but to be working with such a talented creative team and fantastic partners on genuinely iconic and well-loved material is a real thrill. We can't wait to introduce The Enormous Crocodile to the world later this year as part of our dynamic and diverse Autumn/Winter season. Im sure young audiences who experience the show in Leeds will have a wonderful, magical and memorable time."
Timothy Sheader, Artistic Director Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, said: Watch out, there's going to be a very big and extremely hungry crocodile on the loose in Regent's Park next summer. Come and help us catch him before it's too late! We're thrilled to be working with our brilliant partners to share this story on stage.
The production runs from 2 December 2023 - 6 January 2024 at Leeds Playhouse playing in the Courtyard Theatre. Tickets are on sale to Leeds Playhouse's Priority Access, Playhouse Pass Members and Under 30 Scheme from 25 May, with tickets on general sale from 1 June. The production will then head to Regent's Park Open Air Theatre for summer 2024.
THE MAGIC FINGER
A co-production with the Unicorn Theatre.
The Gregg family
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
30/07/2026
CP Communications provided RF audio, RF video, communications, RF coordination, ...
30/07/2026
OpenDrives has been included in CRN's 2026 Storage 100 list in the Software-Defined Storage category. The annual list, selected by the CRN editorial team, r...
30/07/2026
LATAM Airlines has selected SES to provide multi-orbit inflight connectivity to its fleet of Airbus and Embraer aircraft. More than 60 aircraft - including Airb...
30/07/2026
Tagboard has launched the Producer API, an open interface that allows key commands in Tagboard's live production environment to be triggered from external d...
30/07/2026
FOX Sports and the New York Racing Association (NYRA) have announced a multi-year agreement with Del Mar Thoroughbred Club that will make FOX Sports the exclusi...
30/07/2026
ABC Commercial has launched four free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels on LG Smart TVs across North America, Great Britain, and select countrie...
30/07/2026
The Six Kings Slam exhibition tennis tournament will return to Riyadh on October 21, 22, and 24, streaming live on Netflix at no additional cost to subscribers....
30/07/2026
Central Christian Church in Mt. Vernon, Illinois has deployed Clear-Com's LQ...
30/07/2026
Blackmagic Design has released the UltraStudio Express 3G family, a pair of USB4 capture and playback devices compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux computers ...
30/07/2026
ESPN has reached a media rights agreement with the Women's Pro Baseball League (WPBL), making ESPN the national streaming home of the league's 2026 seas...
30/07/2026
Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) and the Professional Fighters League (PFL) have announced a merger that will operate under the MVP banner. PFL CEO John Martin wi...
30/07/2026
The Columbus Blue Jackets will simulcast all game broadcasts across television and radio beginning with the 2026-27 NHL season. Under the new format, the televi...
30/07/2026
TMRW Sports has selected Populous as architect for a purpose-built stadium for its professional flag football league, being developed in partnership with the NF...
30/07/2026
SiriusXM has announced SiriusXM Sports Pass, a new subscription plan launching September 1 that bundles the company's sports audio programming into a single...
30/07/2026
Leagues, broadcasters, and technologists gather to tackle cloud economics, distr...
30/07/2026
A major player in the cloud-based solutions, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has conti...
30/07/2026
The NBA will provide production for all local game broadcasts, including pregame and postgame coverage...
30/07/2026
Cosm will open its fourth immersive sports and entertainment venue in downtown Detroit on September 10. Located at 25 Cadillac Square, adjacent to Campus Martiu...
30/07/2026
NFL Network will be available on the ESPN App beginning July 30 for Unlimited plan subscribers. The addition brings NFL Network's live games, studio program...
30/07/2026
NEP Group has added Riedel's SimplyLive Production Suite to NEP Platform, giving customers access to the live production software through NEP's orchestr...
30/07/2026
LOS ANGELES, CA, July 30, 2026 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute today announce...
30/07/2026
A new take on classic algorithmic reverbs
Waves have just introduced a new flagship algorithmic reverb plug-in that offers the company's take on the ico...
30/07/2026
Save up to 30% on virtual instruments & plug-ins
Arturia have recently launched their annual Summer Sale, which sees discounts of up to 30% applied across a...
30/07/2026
ActiveAnalogue technology powers new flagship modular console
A year on from the launch of the Oracle, SSL have revealed a new flagship console which they s...
30/07/2026
Up to 22dBA of passive attenuation
The latest arrival to the beyerdynamic range introduces a new compact monitoring headphone that's been designed to ta...
30/07/2026
As part of its traditional graduation ceremony, SGL Carbon honored the achievements of a total of twelve young professionals who successfully completed their ap...
30/07/2026
Premiere date revealed for SBS Original drama The Airport Chaplain, starring Hug...
30/07/2026
TVNZ and Evergent are celebrating a major TVNZ milestone - the evolution from a free-to-view, ad-supported business into a hybrid model, offering premium sport...
30/07/2026
WebMiere Adds Native VP9/AV1 WebM/MKV Import to Adobe Premiere Pro
Brie Clayton July 29, 2026
0 Comments
Brought to you by KawaiiEngine, WebMiere is a...
30/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/07/2026
At IBC2026, GlobalM will showcase the latest evolution of its software-defined media platform, enabling broadcasters, telecom operators and media organisations ...
30/07/2026
At the 2026 TAB Show, Digital Alert Systems will highlight and demo the new DAS-Link AIR, an over-the-air common alert protocol (CAP) dissemination system for ...
30/07/2026
OpenDrives Named to the 2026 CRN Storage 100 List
Company Recognized Among the 50 Coolest Software-Defined Storage Vendors for Unlimited Capacity, S3 Hybrid M...
30/07/2026
New Scene Search capability in VIDA Content OS makes video content itself searchable, letting broadcasters and streamers find key moments across millions of ass...
30/07/2026
July 30th, 2026
TRIBECA FILMS ANNOUNCES SUMMER 2026 ACQUISITIONS INCLUDING L...
30/07/2026
Thursday 30 July 2026
Which WSL matches are Sky Sports showing on the 2026/27 opening weekend?
The season will kick off on Friday 4 September with Manchester ...
30/07/2026
Thursday 30 July 2026
Enjoy discounts on the iPhone Air, plus 5Gb speeds with U...
30/07/2026
Broadcaster John Creedon explores Ireland's rich musical heritage Sunday 2 A...
30/07/2026
Back to school means balancing assignments, deadlines and downtime. GeForce NOW makes it easy to have it all.
With cloud gaming, everyday laptops used for clas...
29/07/2026
In this series, Grass Valley explores the seven paradoxes shaping the next era o...
29/07/2026
Thats a wrap on Season 1 of SVG Students to Watch! Across the country, these stu...
29/07/2026
The agreement will move Gotham Sports App subscribers to DAZN during the 2026-27...
29/07/2026
Longtime digital-media leader expands role overseeing conference branding, video...
29/07/2026
By Bailey Pennick
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. ...