Duchess will get sneak peek at Dahl spectacle
ONE of the surprises for the magical City of the Unexpected will be unveiled today.
On September 17 and 18, Cardiff will be transformed with incredible magical spectacles as part of celebrations for Roald Dahl’s Centenary.
There will be unexpected sights, performances, pop-ups and spectacles appearing on the streets and buildings throughout the city.
The Duchess of Cornwall will be among the first to see George’s Marvellous Medicine Machine, one of the installations created for the event.
The production will take over the whole city centre and while most of the surprises are staying under wraps until the day, the Royal visitor will today get a sneak peak.
It is produced by Wales Millennium Centre and National Theatre Wales.
Roald Dahl’s widow, Felicity Dahl and official biographer, Donald Sturrock will be at the event.
They will be joined in this celebration by Cardiff communities, societies, organisations and charities which have worked to celebrate the life and works of Roald Dahl during 2016 – and his time in Wales – which was the inspiration for many adventures, plots and characters.
She will visit the Norwegian Church where Professor Damian Walford Davies, chair of Literature Wales, will speak about Roald Dahl’s links to Cardiff and to the Norwegian Church.
The Duchess will also meet Poet Rufus Mufasa, who has been working with children from Grangetown and Cadoxton Primary Schools, to create rap and spoken word pieces inspired by Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes.
She will meet Welsh singer and songwriter Caryl Parry Jones who has been leading workshops for Devising Dahl and she will hear a rehearsal of pieces from Devising Dahl with 22 pupils from Windsor Clive Primary School, Ely.
Children from the Only Kids Aloud Chorus led by Tim Rhys-Evans will bring the visit to a close and will provide the finale performance with the songs “Revolting Children” from Matilda and “Pure Imagination” from Charlie & The Chocolate Factory.
Over the weekend of September 17 and 18 some of Roald Dahl’s biggest and best known fans will be reading extracts from his stories in some unusual locations across the city centre.
Audiences are also invited to The Great Pyjama Picnic at the city’s Bute Park – in their pyjamas – for an all day celebration.
Ken Skates AM said: “This visit is an excellent snapshot of the excitement which has and continues to surround the celebrations of Roald Dahl in Wales. Our programme of celebration has given people throughout Wales a chance to get to know Dahl better and to celebrate through song, music, dance and, of course, reading and writing.
“This year we celebrate Year of Adventure in Wales which is a perfect fit with such a great ambassador for adventure – and there are plenty more adventures to be had as we look forward to his birthday in September, and later this month we’ll have the pleasure of the opening of the Quentin Blake: Inside Stories exhibition at National Museum Cardiff.”