Les Enfants Terribles on their second visit to Brighton, their newest show, and how Judi Dench got involved with it Les Enfants Terribles return to Brighton this festival for a performance of their latest show The Terrible Infants. ThreeWeeks quizzes producer James Seager about the company, their latest show, Brighton, Edinburgh, and the future.

ThreeWeeks: How many times have Les Enfants Terribles been at the Brighton Festival, and what made you decide to come back?

James Seager: It’s our second time. We came here first in 2005 with Immaculate. We had such a strong response from that show and such an interest that we always wanted to come back again some time in the future. When Udderbelly approached us with the idea of taking the current show, it seemed like the perfect venue, audience and show for the Festival.

TW: How does performing at the Brighton Festival compare to the Edinburgh Festival?

JS: Obviously Brighton is slightly smaller in duration and with fewer shows but both create a buzz around town that is so much fun to be part of, with so much different stuff from around the world for you to see.
TW: Is The Terrible Infants actually suitable for terrible infants?

JS: We say it is suitable for big kids and small grown-ups so I definitely think that includes terrible infants! It features six tales of infants misbehaving badly; you meet Tumb, the boy who eats his mum, Thingummyboy, with a face even his mother forgets, Little Linena, the material girl, Manky Mingus and of course little Tilly and her terrible tail. All are linked together and interwoven by an over riding story.

TW: Judi Dench is involved with this production; how did that come about?

JS: Judi Dench had seen the older version and loved it and wanted to be involved, so when we sat down to create the new story we thought hard about how we could involve her. We wanted to create something totally different from what we had done before. One of our actors suggested it would be cool to have her do a voice over; we liked the whole idea and so did she.

TW: Do you plan to take in any other shows at the Brighton Festival? If so, what?

JS: Because Brighton falls when we are involved in our tour it will be difficult but I plan to see a few things; hopefully The Tom Tom Club.

TW: Can you sum up/sell your show in less than 50 words...?

JS: It’s been described as “deliciously dark” (Metro); “beautiful” (Evening Standard); and “poised somewhere between Shockheaded Peter and Roald Dahl’s nastiest stories” (Guardian). It is a hugely theatrical, scary, funny, sad, silly, junk-filled, puppetry packed, dark, delicious, musical, magical piece of theatre that is aimed at all the family.

The Terrible Infants, Udder Place, 18–20 May, 6:00pm (7:25pm), £11.00 (£9.00), fpp 46