Fantastic musical adaptation of classic

Fantastic Mr Fox, New Theatre, Cardiff

CARDIFF fell in love with a certain fox as we followed his antics during the City of the Unexpected celebrations to mark the centenary of Roald Dahl’s birth back in September.

We watched in awe as he tight-roped across the city centre, and cheered with glee as he escaped the farmers roaming the city streets.

Now, Fantastic Mr Fox is back for more daring antics in a half-term extravaganza at the New Theatre.

Commissioned for the centenary celebrations, this new musical adaption captures the fun of the original 1970 children’s book, while successfully bringing it right up to date.

Stage adaptor Sam Holcroft has admitted that it is very hard to do justice to the Cardiff-born writer, but says she has tried her best to capture the spirit of the book. On the whole, she does just that.

The adaptation does stray from the book, with a fox who can’t do it all by himself, raids on the farm that don’t go to plan, and his sons being replaced by a daughter – but the overall feeling that good wins over greed is still the story’s core.

The other message that a willingness to share and work together can save the day comes out loud and clear.

Greg Barnett’s performance as Mr Fox captured the over-confidence shown in the book, but also portrayed a more vulnerable side (especially after losing his tail). This paved the way for Mrs Fox (played brilliantly by Lillie Flynn) bravely The winning numbers in last night’s Lotto main draw were

The bonus number was The Thunderball numbers were coming to save him, rather than just waiting in the tunnel for him to provide for the family and his realisation that he couldn’t do it all by himself and he needed his friends to make the plan work.

The three farmers – Boggis, Bunce and Bean – were funny and the part where they channelled their inner fox was a winner with the audience. The innovative, rotating three-tier set design helped to tell the story with ease and pace.

My companions – aged eight, nine and five – were the real critics of the day and the fact they watched on mesmerised throughout the whole two-hour show spoke volumes. All-in-all a whoopsysplunkers show, ideal for keeping the children entertained. and Cathy Owen and The Thunderball was

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