Photos: THE BFG Celebrates Opening Night at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre

The official opening of The BFG was recently held at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Check out photos from the opening celebrations below!

They were joined by special guests including Sir Kenneth Branagh, who will return to the company for the first time in over 30 years next year in The Tempest and The Cherry Orchard, and Edward Bluemel who was most recently seen on stage in Daniel Evans’ production of Born With Teeth in London’s West End.

The BFG will run at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre until 7 February 2026 before transferring to Chichester Festival Theatre from Monday 9 March – Saturday 11 April 2026. The production will then have a limited run at Singapore’s Esplanade Theatre from Wednesday 22 April 2026, in a new co-producing partnership with Singapore Repertory Theatre and Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.

Based on Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s novel, this darkly comic and mischievous new stage adaptation by Tom Wells (The Kitchen Sink, Jumpers for Goalposts) with dramaturgy and additional material by Jenny Worton is directed by RSC Co-Artistic Director, Daniel Evans.

The full creative team includes Set Designer, Vicki Mortimer; Costume Designer, Kinnetia Isidore; Lighting Designer, Zoe Spurr; Video Designer, Akhila Krishnan; Illusions, Chris Fisher; Composer, Oleta Haffner; Sound Designer, Carolyn Downing; Choreographer and Movement Director, Ira Mandela Siobhan; Puppetry Co-Designer, Daisy Beattie; and Senior Set Design Associate, Matt Hellyer. The Casting Director is Christopher Worrall CDG; and the Children’s Casting Director is Verity Naughton CDG.

The full cast includes Parkey Abeyratne, J.R. Ballantyne, Sonya Cullingford, Ailsa Dalling, Fred Davis, Elisa de Grey, Lottie Johnson, Philip Labey, John Leader, Helena Lymbery, Shaun McCourt, Corey Mitchell, Aki Nakagawa, Richard Riddell, Luke Sumner, Onioluwa Taiwo, Ben Thompson and Sargon Yelda.

They are joined by Elsie Laslett, Ellemie Shivers and Martha Bailey Vine in the role of Sophie and Maisy Lee, Charlotte Jones and Uma Patel in the role of Kimberley.

One extraordinary night, a young orphan named Sophie is snatched by a giant and taken far away to Giant Country. 

There she learns that human-eating giants are guzzling 'norphans' the world over. But she soon discovers that her new friend, the BFG, is different – he's a dream-catching, snozzcumber-munching gentle soul who refuses to eat humans. 

While other giants wreak havoc, the BFG ignites Sophie's imagination, and they devise a daring plan to save children everywhere. In the end, the smallest human bean and the gentlest giant prove that a dream can change the world. 

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