With Obama on it, the stage had a newfound glamour.
In it, the stage is in near-darkness and Kitson says not one word, but operates 46 tape decks in order to tell a pre-recorded story.
Shake on it?" The stage goes dark except for a light on Housman who, freed by poetry, can give his suffering a voice and a shape.
Meanwhile, a private voice — speaking in that tone of wry resignation so common to inner voices prohibited from public utterance — is reasonably asking, "Hey, hold on a minute, what if I hate it?" The stage is all set for poignancy.
Finally, when Kemp meets the owner of Thorpe colliery to discuss the possibility of investing in it, the stage is set for an encounter between Kemp and the only surviving member of the Merchant's crew still to elude him.
Comedian Tim Minchin and writer Dennis Kelly, authors of the music/lyrics and book respectively, evidently had a blast adapting it – the stage fizzes with naughtiness and classic Dahl putdowns (Twit! Maggot!).
