Andrew Kay: Dines Out

Dinner With The Twits

My two favourite ways to spend my evenings have to be dinner and theatre. So when I heard about an extraordinary event that will take place in London this September and October I was intrigued. But not for long as I had an appointment to speak with producer Emma Brünjes (she attended Windlesham School and grew up in Brighton) about her forthcoming interactive, theatrical dining experience called Dinner at The Twits which will open on 4 September – 30 October at The Vaults underneath Waterloo Station as part of the Centenary Celebrations of Roald Dahl’s birth this year. The Twits were Dahl’s wonderfully hideous creation whose dining habits were to say the least a little bit odd… eyeballs, worms and far worse. Here is what Emma had to say:
How did you decide to create an interactive food and theatre event from Dahl’s Book?

The guys who I produced Alices Adventure Underground with last year called me up and said “Do you want to have dinner with the Twits” and I said yes, I’m on board, what are we doing? The writer and director of the company Les Enfants Terribles is a huge Dahl fan, we all are, but he is a particular Dahl geek. None of us are particularly immersive theatre producers but Roald Dahl and Lewis Carroll write these amazing and vivid worlds and it seems to us the best way to tell these stories in a theatrical setting and bring to life all these elements. With the Twits it settled on food. So the combination of theatre and food was something we have never done before.

The combination of theatre and food was something we have never done before

So much of the food in the book is truly revolting, are your culinary partners, Bompass and Parr going to make everything edible?
Yes and yesterday I did the tasting and it is all so delicious and the size of the bird pie that I was served at 11am was fantastic. There will be eight or nine canapes in the starter course, a tasting course. There are elements to all the courses that are delicious but there are also lots of tricks and unexpected twists along the way. I had popcorn pigeon with anchovy dip and the pie has a luminous green sauce which is great too – you certainly will not go home hungry.

Is this a good opportunity for grown ups to indulge in Dahl?
Yes, ultimately we are all big kids and we haven’t grown up yet and we want our audiences to do that too. This is the first time that any of the Dahl books have been used to create something specifically for adults. This is a night to come along and remember what it is to play and have that kind of fun.

Was it difficult to cast?
No because we worked with a brilliant actress last year who we immediately knew was going to be a perfect Mrs Twit and all the actors we use are really experienced in this type of work, quick thinking and reactive but also working with a very strong and tight script that they have to stick to. It is a very structured experience and the audience are on a very strong narrative journey.

Is it easy creating that Dahl world in the Vaults?
The Vaults are perfect for creating the ghastly garden and windowless house so where better than underneath Waterloo station? Our designer’s visions are breathtaking.

Is this experiential dining?
In a way but there is a story and you have a role, you are guests at the renewal of Mr and Mrs Twit’s wedding vows and there is a twist to that too and how you engage with the monkeys two. The whole thing is 90 minutes long. The evening ends in the mugglewumps upside down bar where you can carry on drinking weird cocktails and the bar is open to the public so you can come along and get the feel of what the show is and then book for the whole experience or come back if enjoyed the show.

Tickets start at £80 which includes the show, a cocktail, a full meal and a half bottle of wine too. Needles to say, I will be there and no doubt nervous but excited.

Dinner At The Twits, The Vaults, Waterloo
4 September – 30 October 2016
Tickets £80-£110 www.twitsdinner.com / 0844 248 1215
Minimum age 14+, recommended for 16+. Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult.