On Feb. 12, the John Brown University Department of Music & Theatre produced The Big Friendly Giant, a stage adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s book of the same name.

Dahl’s novel follows a young orphan girl named Sophie and her friend, the BFG, as they seek to apprehend the six evil child-eating giants. To accomplish this task, they must acquire the help of the Queen of England. The play tells a similar story, though this one from the viewpoint of a family acting out the events of the novel.

To demonstrate the difference in size between Sophie—played by Julia McCarty—and the BFG—played by Ross Wilson—the theatre team utilized dolls, foam-carved heads and giant puppets. McCarty spent much of the show manipulating a small doll only a foot tall to act as Sophie from the book. This little doll interacting with the BFG, and the BFG exclusively speaking to the doll, created a believable dynamic between the characters.

To illustrate these giants' size in relation to the typical human, large heads carved out of foam were attached to the actors. These heads, each with a unique and stark design, towered over the BFG and the audience.

In the second Act of the play, when the characters consist mostly of humans, they depicted the BFG through a giant puppet. Each arm was maneuvered by a separate person, as was the head.

“It was necessary for Ross to puppeteer his own character so that character’s lines could correlate with the puppet’s head movements,” stage manager Ella Fletcher said.

 Due to its popularity as a children’s story, much of the audience consisted of giggling kids eager for a laugh. On the morning of Feb.14, the theatre was fully booked for local elementary school students, many of whom had read the book for class. The kids’ reception to the show was widely positive and encouraged the actors further.

 “Every time they did laugh, we almost melted backstage, because the story is geared for kids,” Mariama Finch, who played Mom and The Queen of England said.

 There were a lot of quick, little gags sprinkled throughout the play. Even parents escorting their children around found something to giggle over as the show played.

Photo courtesy of Hannah Williams