Les Enfants Terribles have announced that the anniversary production of their multi-award winning show The Terrible Infants will be staged at Wilton’s Music Hall. Featuring new creative material and reflecting Les Enfants Terribles’ bold, innovative and irreverent style The Terrible Infants will run from 27 September until 28 October with a press night on Tuesday 3 October. Tickets are now on sale from www.wiltons.org.uk
The production is a collection of twisted short stories by Oliver Lansley and Sam Wyer, which recall both Roald Dahl and Tim Burton, performed with inventive puppetry and atmospheric live music. Featuring recorded narration from Dame Judi Dench, The Terrible Infants originally debuted in 2007 before multiple appearances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and nationwide tours. The production received numerous awards when it debuted a decade ago including Best Entertainment and Outstanding Theatre in the Fringe Report in 2008, as well as Outstanding Artistic Merit from Argus Angel Award.
Oliver Lansley (Artistic Director) and James Seager (Producer) of Les Enfants Terribles said: “The Terrible Infants is a project which is very close to our hearts so we’re thrilled to be able to bring it back into the limelight for its tenth birthday. It’s always been at the back of our minds to revisit the show (audiences still talk to us about it all these years later!) and we’re delighted that the bewitching Wilton’s Music Hall will be its London home.
Over the past decade we have explored so many other ways of creating theatre with Alice’s Adventure’s Underground, Dinner at the Twits and The Game’s Afoot, so we’ll be bringing all that innovation and invention to this tenth anniversary production to create a more magical world for The Terrible Infants. Our stalwart audiences will be pleased to hear that Tumb, the boy who eats his Mum, Thingummyboy, whose face is so forgettable even his Mum struggles to recall him, Little Linena, Manky Mingus and Little Tilly will all be returning to the stage… but they will be joined by another twisted tale which we will be adding to The Terrible Infants repertoire.
2017 has been an incredible year for us with the return of Alice’s Adventure’s Underground to the Vaults, the continued success of our sister company Les Petits Theatre Company which is currently touring David Walliams’ The First Hippo on the Moon across the UK, the launch of our new initiative The Stepladder Award and Les Enfants Terribles featuring in The Stage 100. We can’t think of a better way to round off this amazing year than to welcome audiences to the new world of The Terrible Infants.”
When you tell too many tall tales, those tales have a tendency to take over, growing bigger and uglier and stronger and scarier, layering lie upon lie, fib upon fib, white lies turn to grey and grey turn to black, while you’re lugging around this huge tale on your back.
It’s always behind you, but none of it is true, and soon you can’t control the tale, it is the tale that controls you…
The Terrible Infants is the second time which Les Enfants Terribles will work with Wilton’s Music Hall in 2017. Along with touring and audience engagement company house, Les Enfants Terribles and Wilton’s have also launched The Stepladder Award. The award is designed to support fringe theatre companies making original work as they look to establish themselves within the UK theatre industry. The emphasis of the award is on supporting a company to mount a first full professional tour of their winning Edinburgh Festival Fringe show and build their company profile and structure.
Submissions for the award opened on 8 March 2017. The judging panel, made up of Les Enfants Terribles, Wilton’s Music Hall and house, will then see shortlisted shows during the first week of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2017 and announce the winner at the end of that week. Further information can be found here: www.lesenfantsterribles.co.uk/awards
The winner will perform their production at Wilton’s Music Hall in Autumn 2017 and will be supported by Les Enfants Terribles and house in mounting a tour of their show. The winner will also receive mentoring from Les Enfants Terribles as they prepare funding applications and plan their tour and in addition a programme of industry mentoring.
The Terrible Infants plays at Wilton’s Music Hall 27 September – 28 October
Photo: Graham Lewis
