By Amanda Zeitler
If you grew up with a fondness for Roald Dahl books, despite some of the author’s problematic takes, you still probably grew up with a love of whimsy and plucky kids — and McClean Community Players had both of these in abundance in its recent production of James and the Giant Peach (adapted for the stage by Richard George).
Granted, most of the plucky kids were in the audience, but the adult actors onstage embraced the childlike wonder of their characters with delightful abandon.
For those unfamiliar with James and the Giant Peach (and if you are, I highly recommend you check out the original source material), the story follows the tale of 7-year-old James Trotter. Orphaned as a child after a terrible rhinoceros eats his parents, James is sent to live with his abusive aunts, who force him to do back-breaking labor and hardly ever feed him. When a mysterious magic peach grows in their yard, the villainous aunts attempt to get rich by making it a tourist attraction, until one night James crawls inside the peach to find it home to a half dozen friendly, human-sized insects. The fantastical group absconds with the giant peach and uses it as both a boat and seagull-supported air balloon to travel across the Atlantic Ocean to New York City. Wonder and hilarity ensue!
Alex Lew as Grasshopper immediately drew audiences in as one of the narrators of the piece, quickly acquainting us with the titular character’s unfortunate circumstances. Aunts Spike and Sponge (Ursula Burgess and Camille Harvey, respectively) elicited horror and outrage in equal measure, while Kim Thornley delighted and provoked excitement as the Strange Old Man who gifts James the magic that starts his journey. Teresa Preston brought warmth and comfort as the motherly Ladybug, Alayna Theunissen made audiences laugh and connect with their inner cynic as the frightened Earthworm, and I may never squash a spider again after watching Alex Aspiazu portray the hopeful and well-meaning Spider. Mike Holland, in particular, connected with the children (of which there were many!) in the crowd through his smashing songs, ukulele performance, and uncanny ability to engage the young audience in jokes and direct one-liners while simultaneously keeping up with his fellow bugs on stage. The whole of the ensemble — who portrayed James’ mother and father, various tourists, a ship’s crew, Cloud Men, and New York City children — did a wonderful job of adding color and depth to the piece.
Actors Clay Martin and Mackenzie Gaylord swapped roles every other performance, taking turns playing the puppyish Silkworm and titular James. On the day that I was able to attend this production, I had the privilege to see Clay Martin in the leading role. Martin, the one child actor in the cast, did a terrific job portraying the inquisitive and charming James. Martin leaned into James’ shy nature at the beginning of the play, and as the story progressed grew into an imaginative leader. I hope to see them get more stage time in the future!
Making their directorial debut, Director Adam Renner and AD Laura Bingham put together a crack team of talented performers and, in this writer’s opinion, led a very successful first production. I look forward to seeing what other projects they bring to the DMV.
Running Time: 75 minutes, no intermission.
James and the Giant Peach played March 22 to 30, 2025, presented by the McLean Community Players, performing at the Great Falls Grange, 9818 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls, VA.
The program for James and the Giant Peach is downloadable here.