In the midst of wind an rain an enchanting evening of storytelling awaited us..
The Saturday before last we were lucky (very lucky, I will explain in a minute) to attend a Roald Dahl Christmas Dinner by the incredibly talented Hunt & Gather.
Myself and Roisin booked tickets to the sold out event in September and were very excited as it was part of a surprise present for our boys, you probably know Conor and Killian from previous posts, they sometimes get roped into helping us with projects on site!
So on Saturday we got dressed up, and headed into the stunning No. 12 Henrietta Street for an night of festive food and Roald Dahl. We were met at the door by candle lit lanterns and a fox holding the guest list which to our surprise we were not on… As with all best laid plans, they often go awry! It turns out I had accidentally booked our tickets for the Friday night not the Saturday as I had thought…
But that was not going to dampen our spirits and the very accommodating team from H&G invited us in to stay for the evening. Hot Whiskys were served while the first reading from Roald Dahl’s, ‘The Twits’ was performed in front of a warm and festive fire. The reading was a very apt passage for the current trend of men’s breads today!
”Mr Twit didn’t even bother to open his mouth wide when he ate. As a result (and because he never washed) there were always hundreds of bits of old breakfasts and lunches and suppers sticking to the hairs around his face. They weren’t big bits, mind you, because he used to wipe those off with the back of his hand or on his sleeve while he was eating. But if you looked closely (not that you’d ever want to) you would see tiny little specks of dried-up scrambled eggs stuck to the hairs, and spinach and tomato ketchup and fish fingers and minced chicken livers and all the other disgusting things Mr Twit liked to eat. If you looked closer still (hold your noses, ladies and gentlemen), if you peered deep into the moustachy bristles sticking out over his upper lip, you would probably see much larger objects that had escaped the wipe of his hand, things that had been there for months and months, like a piece of maggoty green cheese or a mouldy old cornflake or even the slimy tail of a tinned sardine. Because of all this, Mr Twit never went really hungry. By sticking out his tongue and curling it sideways to explore the hairy jungle around his mouth, he was always able to find a tasty morsel here and there to nibble on.”
The venue which dates back to 1729 is full of character in its own right. For the event however it was adorned with candelabras and intricate paper crafts.
As the evening continued, readings of Roald Dahl’s lesser know works penned for adults, were beautifully depicted through the delicate art of shadow puppetry, by the amazing Cosy Bitches. The imagery perfectly complemented the dark and sinister side of Dahl’s stories, many of which I had never heard before. ‘Kiss Kiss’ is now on the way and I am very much looking forward to reading it!
As the event was fully booked for dinner we got the privilege of hanging out behind the scenes as the team prepared for their performances, and to get in the spirit of things we also had our faces painted in glitter.. They could not have been more warm and welcoming and turned what was shaping up to be a disappointing evening into a magical night of literature and sparkle!
We are huge fans and for those of you who have not yet been to a Hunt & Gather event you simply must go!