Show celebrates imaginative thinking

Shanghai Community International School Pudong’s spring production of “James and the Giant Peach” carried audiences away into the imagination of a young boy and his exciting tale of crossing the ocean in an enormous peach with five very large insect friends.

David Wood’s theatrical adaptation of the classic Roald Dahl book leaves plenty for the imagination of the actors, technical crew, and audience. The SCIS students have truly made this tale their own. The story celebrates the inventive solutions that children have for the trouble in their lives, be it terrible aunts like Sponge and Spiker, vicious sharks, monster octopuses, charging rhinos, or lassoing a flock of seagulls. 

When drama animates our most treasured values, like the power of unconventional thinking and the determination of youth, it is an experience that makes an impact on our lives, just as the original book has made an impact on many of us. The production featured a talented ensemble of SCIS actors, whimsical, student-designed costumes and scenery, original choreography, not to mention a simply enormous peach on center stage. We hope you had a chance to join SCIS PD for the adventure, but if not, that you take time to wonder where you might go if you floated away on a giant peach.

(Article is written by Katharine Enoch, who is SCIS US Drama and Music teacher.)