Warwickshire &amp; West Midlands

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2560" height="1707" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415240_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-scaled.jpg" alt="RSC THE BFG JOHN LEADER" class="wp-image-67043" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415240_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415240_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415240_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415240_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415240_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415240_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></figure>



If you grew up with&nbsp;The BFG&nbsp;tucked firmly under your pillow (or still have strong feelings about snozzcumbers), this one’s going to hit you right in the nostalgia. The Royal Shakespeare Company’s stage adaptation of Roald Dahl’s beloved classic is a big-hearted, beautifully-staged crowd-pleaser that had me smiling all the way through – the sort of grin that starts polite and ends slightly gooey.



Is it&nbsp;Matilda The Musical? Absolutely not. There are no belting showstoppers or children tap-dancing their way through trauma. But there&nbsp;are&nbsp;moments when you half-expect the cast to burst into song anyway, such is the energy and theatrical swagger. And honestly? That’s not a bad thing.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2560" height="1707" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415680_The-BFG-production-images-_2025-scaled.jpg" alt="BFG AT RSC STRATFORD" class="wp-image-67040" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415680_The-BFG-production-images-_2025-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415680_The-BFG-production-images-_2025-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415680_The-BFG-production-images-_2025-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415680_The-BFG-production-images-_2025-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415680_The-BFG-production-images-_2025-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415680_The-BFG-production-images-_2025-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></figure>



The story (in case it’s been a while) – young orphan Sophie is snatched from her bed by a giant (standard bedtime stuff) who turns out to be the only one of his kind who&nbsp;doesn’t&nbsp;eat human beans. Together, Sophie and the Big Friendly Giant hatch a plan to stop the truly horrid &#8216;Nog&#8217; giants from terrorising the world – with a little help from HRH the Queen of England.



Director Daniel Evans leans hard into theatrical invention, and it pays off. The staging is genuinely enchanting, constantly playing with scale and perspective so that Sophie is sometimes tiny in puppet form, sometimes life-sized, sometimes flying through the air in a bedsheet (as you do). 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2560" height="1706" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415435_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-scaled.jpg" alt="The BFG puppet at RSC" class="wp-image-67042" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415435_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415435_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415435_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415435_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415435_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415435_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></figure>



Toby Olié’s puppetry is the real star here – the BFG exists in multiple forms (puppet and human), and somehow it all works without feeling clunky or confusing. If you&#8217;re expecting a true likeness of Quentin Blake&#8217;s illustrations (or even a vague similarity to Mark Rylance&#8217;s 2016 film role), look away. In puppet form, BFG is the younger boy bander version of himself. 



Dreams swirl, beds glide, buildings transform, and London landmarks whoosh past. It’s immersive, imaginative and properly gasp-worthy in places – especially for younger audience members, who were audibly thrilled.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2560" height="1706" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415426_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-scaled.jpg" alt="RSC The Bfg John Leader" class="wp-image-67044" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415426_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415426_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415426_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415426_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415426_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415426_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></figure>



John Leader is warm and winning as the BFG, bringing real heart (and impeccable wonky “langwitch”). Child actors can often veer into saccharine territory so sweet it makes your molars ache, but not here. On press night,&nbsp;Ellemie Shivers (Sophie) and&nbsp;Maisy Lee&nbsp;(Kimberley) were both sharp, funny and refreshingly natural – no over-earnest wide-eyed mugging in sight.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2560" height="1707" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415457_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-scaled.jpg" alt="THE BFG QUEEN" class="wp-image-67039" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415457_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415457_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415457_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415457_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415457_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415457_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></figure>



Helena Lymbery’s Queen Liz is a twinkly-eyed delight – a monarch longing for adventure, thwarted only by the endless fussing of footmen determined to serve tea and dress her from her red velvet-draped bed. Relatable.



And the biggest laughs of the night? Hands down to the two military captains, Smith and Frith (Philip Labey&nbsp;and&nbsp;Luke Sumner), sporting magnificent moustaches, with Frith delivering mumbling nonsense from behind what appears to be a very serious facial hair curtain. Comedy gold.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2560" height="1499" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415318_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-scaled.jpg" alt="The BFG" class="wp-image-67038" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415318_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415318_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-800x469.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415318_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-1000x586.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415318_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-768x450.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415318_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-1536x900.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/warks/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/12/415318_BFG-production-images_-November-2025_2025-2048x1200.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></figure>



Any wobbles? It doesn’t quite hit the emotional punch adults might be secretly hoping for. There’s charm in spades, but fewer lump-in-the-throat moments than Dahl’s darker edges might allow. Older kids will love it; grown-ups will admire it more than sob into their interval wine. That said, the pacing is brisk, the visuals do a lot of heavy lifting, and nobody near me was checking their watch (always a good sign).



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-muddy-verdict">THE MUDDY VERDICT</h2>



GOOD FOR: Families with kids aged around 6-12 yrs, Dahl devotees and anyone who appreciates theatrical wizardry over jazz hands.



NOT FOR: Those expecting a full-blown musical, or teens who think they’re “too old” for giants and dreams (their loss).



THE DAMAGE? From&nbsp;£8&nbsp;(with top prices typically up to £75).



<ul>
<li>The BFG&nbsp;is playing at the&nbsp;Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until&nbsp;Sat 7 Feb 2026.</li>
</ul>



<a href="https://www.rsc.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal Shakespeare Theatre</a>, Waterside, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6BB.

Review: ‘The BFG’, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford, Warks

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