Headline December 20, 2016/ ''' *ROALD DAHL'S !WOW!* '''

''' *ROALD DAHL'S !WOW!* '''

OPENING ROALD DAHL'S  mischievous world is an utter delight. I am sure that were he alive today, the great master would have loved-

Sam Daily Times : *The Voice Of The Voiceless*  and  !WOW! - the World Students Society and the gradual but masterly creation of Ecosystem 2011. 

ROALD DAHL IS BEST KNOWN  for  *five books*  including, in addition to ''Charlie'' and  ''The BFG,''  ''James and the Giant Peach,'' ''Matilda'' and- 

''The Witches.'' 

But there are  18 children's stories in all for which the estate is seeing to build an audience. And in the same context it is backing projects both familiar and obscure.  

''With publishing shifting a lot more, there is still, I think, a huge desire to bring his kind of  *vivid and mischievous  world*   into other mediums,'' said the grandson, Luke Kelly, managing director of the Roald Dahl Literary Estate.

''We are really transferring from being a literary estate to being more of a story company, and that is a bit of scary thing for some people,'' he added.

''That doesn't mean that we're not still going to think about the books as our guiding light.

It just means that we're also thinking, How do we get these amazing words and stories into kids bedrooms, and into their minds and imaginations, in many ways?''

Cardiff, Wales, where Dahl was born  [he died in 1990],   is pledging a transformation into the  'the city of the unexpected' featuring performances, reading and a pajama picnic.

In the United States, a trivia show is travelling to schools and libraries, and Dahl-themed treats are at a variety of sweet shops. 

There are also a ''Twits'' themed dinner; a new Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary; and ''Love From Boy,'' a collection of letters from Dahl to his mother. 

  

Roald Dah's books  -have sold more than 250 million copies. But do remember that he is not for everyone-

The cruel comeuppances and the  *villainous adults*  that populate his books have been a  turnoff  for some parents.

''He has always been immensely popular with children, but the harder edge to his worldview rubbed some people the wrong way when he first came on the scene in the 60s and 70s.

They thought his work was too violent, or presenting adults in too critical a light, and there some concern that there was an antiauthority strain to his work,'' said Mark I. West, a Dahl scholar who is the chairman of the English department at the University of North Carolina at Charlottte.

''In recent years, with the success of the Harry Potter books, there is a greater acceptance of fantasy, and a little more tolerance for the edgier works,'' he added.

Adaptions, particularly for stage and film, began during Dahl's lifetime. The plays were dutifully faithful to the books; the films often made the endings softer or more sentimental.

For example, the 1990 film of  ''The Witches,'' which Dahl denounced, altered the ending so that the boy at the story's heart could enjoy a long life as a human; in the book he chooses a shorter life as as mouse. 

Dahl also professed to dislike  ''Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory,''  the first film adaption of  ''Charlie.''

The estate has high hopes of breathing a new life into less well known titles. Last year,  Judi Dench and Dustin Hoffman  starred in a popular British television adaption of the  'Esio Trot'.

With  ''Charlie and Chocolate Factory,''  on the other hand, the estate has a top-selling title must figure out how to satisfy those who love the novel; those who remember fondly the 1971 film or the 2005 Johnny Depp remake; and those who know none of the above.

The stage musical, directed by Mr. Mendes,opened in London in 2013 to mixed reviews; the American production will be directed by Jack O' Brien, who is promising changes, and it will feature a new and more avant-garde collaborator : the puppeteer Basil Twist.  

David Greig, the Scottish Playwright chose to write the book for the ''Charlie'' musical, said each adaptation is a moment for the estate to shape how Dahl lives on.

''Instead of just saying yes to people's offers,'' he said, ''they start saying: 'What do you want? What is the legacy we want? ' ''

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Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless