Episode 1 Roald Dahl's City of the Unexpected

100 years ago this September one of the world's best love authors was

born right here in Cardiff. None other than the fantastic Mr Roald

Dahl. Generations of children and adults have been mesmerised by Roald

Dahl's literary creations and to celebrate his centenary, National

Theatre Wales and Wales Millennium Centre have come together to produce

a two-day citywide spectacle entitled the City of the Unexpected.

I'd taking a sneaky peek behind the scenes as Cardiff prepares to be

sprinkled by a touch of magic. If you make your way to Cardiff city

centre on the weekend of September 17-18, prepare to be amazed. With

over 75 events staged across public spaces and at iconic buildings,

entire streets will be closed off as thousands of performers bring the

city to a standstill with jaw-dropping Dahl inspired

spectacles. Events are all free of charge. Roald Dahl's books rowing up

a huge inspiration for me. The fact he is being celebrated on such a

huge scale is an amazing thing and I'm happy to play a small part in

these celebrations. In true Roald Dahl spile, -- style, anything can

happen. An update now on those unexpected weather systems and the

incidence of rhyming disease they've been causing across Wales. From

impromptu performances to a huge pillow fight on Bute Park. Anyone

and everyone is invited to take part in weird and wonderful events. For

two days we can expect the whole city to be turned upside down as if

Roald Dahl was up there in the sky pulling the strings of the city

creating mischief, mayhem, magic but certainly most of all the

unexpected. This ambitious collaboration between National

Theatre Wales and the Wales Millennium Centre has been two years

in the making and I have come to meet Graham Barrow from the

millennium Centre to find out more about the origins of the City of the

Unexpected. When you ask people, even people from Cardiff, lots of

people don't realise he was born here so partly was about trying to

reclaim first Waqar is one of us. We are used to have big sporting events

like the Rugby World Cup in Cardiff but I'm not sure there's ever been

at some creative event that has stopped the city and its tracks. The

team have called on the expertise of renowned theatre director Nigel

Jamieson from Sydney Australia. Having directed many large-scale

events, including the Olympics, the project is incapable hands. We had a

list of people we wanted to direct it and Nigel Jamieson was at the

top, our number one choice. In terms of outdoor spectacles, he is the

man. When we bagged him, we thought, we have got the makings of something

here. Director Nigel Jamieson 's track record is certainly

impressive. With rehearsals well underway, I managed to track him

down at Cardiff's Civic Centre to learn more about his vision. We had

the idea that what would it be like if Roald Dahl was sitting up there

in the sky and we suddenly said we going to hand you... If he was to be

given the reins. If he was the puppeteer. The puppeteers are two

days and the laws of physics and everything were thrown up in the

air. We would see lots of characters and themes we recognise that most of

all, it is what would he do today if he had a chance to play with 350,000

people of Cardiff, all these wonderful buildings, parks. What

Julia to the project given -- what drew you to the project? It is a

singularly fantastic idea for an event. The idea of playing with the

whole city, rather than a stadium or theatre, we hope to put on an event

that no one has ever seen in the world. I'm working with an amazing

team of directors, composers, artists, designers. I'm having to

keep all the good things hidden! Not quite, because I've got an access

all areas pass and I'm not afraid to use it. The first place I'm heading

is to the show's costume department. With so many costumes to make from

scratch, their team has certainly got their work cut out. I know

you're busy this afternoon, what is on the agenda? We are working on our

insects. We are cutting, stitching, glueing things. Dan, a la designer,

as the main job, he has to design or these beautiful costumes and then it

is our job to realise them and make sure they are something someone can

wear what performing individual skills. What is keeping you busy?

I'm making the waistcoat for Mr Fox. It is made of the brightly coloured

fabric. It's a kind of English country gentlemen feel. The

waistcoat, trousers and striped shirt. Very dapper! And very bright

colour so he stands out from the crowd because he will do a lot of

different activities. I hope it fits. Need to! -- me to! Though it

is just a costume, I'm keeping my distance if that is OK. Took me

through the spider outfit. The insect costumes get lifted by a

crane so we have these harnesses the need to be one underneath them.

They'll soon need to be able to walk through doorways. The lyrics are all

movable. So it makes it a lot smaller. -- the Lairds. It isn't

just making a pretty dress. You have to think about what the performers

are doing, whether that is sitting on the floor or doing a backflip

will actually getting lifted by a crane. Though details of the show

are kept tightly under wraps, we can expect allsorts performances

inspired by Dahl's colourful characters to pop up unexpectedly

during the weekend including some larger than life creepy crawlies.

With the aim of getting as many people as possible involved in the

celebrations, the organisers have been staging creative workshops

around Cardiff. At the library I caught up with children from the

local area who were getting ready to make jeans come true, just like

Roald Dahl's much loved character the BFG. One of the things the Big

Friendly Giant does is he captures dreams in a cave and he puts them

into jars and then he takes them to children all over the world and he

blows them into their ear to make sure they have lovely dreams and not

horrible ones. Taking inspiration from Dahl's book, she is helping

youngsters create dreams and dream jars. We've got some lovely objects

to put in your dream jars. With all this fun going on, I couldn't resist

joining in. Good job. What is the aim of this workshop? It's a great

opportunity for children to be involved in the weekend and have

fun. They can use their imagination a bit and celebrate Roald Dahl's

work. Took me three or dream jar. It is about dinosaurs. A good dream or

a bad dream? A good dream. My full ways wanted to see a dinosaur. It is

like Jurassic Park in a jar. The dream jar with dinosaurs having fun

on holiday. That is amazing. Stegosaurus is standing upside down

having a little sleep in the tree. Because that is what they do. With

pterodactyls flying backwards on his tummy. That's a dream would all like

to have. With some simple props and an empty dream jar, the kids have

allowed their imagination to run wild which is exactly what Roald

Dahl is all about. It has been a BFG dream come true. The finished dream

jars will take pride of place in Bute Park on Sunday where everyone

is invited to whether pyjamas and joining The Great Pyjama Picnic. And

prizes will be awarded for the best feasts. Over at the Cardiff Central

youth club, a group of voluntary community performers are being put

through their paces by Nigel. In a line, keep it moving! They are

playing the part of the no-nonsense killjoys, the Ministry of the

predictable. What the hell is going on over here? Face that way. This

group is going to be responsible for keeping order in the city. They are

in charge of all the different codes and orders. They have thousands of

kilometres of hazard tape to place and they are desperately trying to

keep control. But like you all to take a pencil out of your left-hand

pocket and lived it up a little. And blew it because you kept it to the

finest point that you can. He is helping us move around and be stern

and writing notes and everything. Then you will stick it on to the

front of the camera without... And proper health and safety job,

really! The minister says... Runaround. Go! Stop! No! We often

use games, simple games to get the energy going. Runaround, go! Stop!

Let's go! Then focus on the drama, in this case, Simon says. That was

really, really fun. We were getting to work together as a unit. I'm

looking forward to it. Stop! No! Nigel is mental but perfect for this

sort of thing. Absolutely amazing working with him. Are you ready?

Let's move. Theatrical event on this scale needs all sorts of props and

sets to help tell the story and draw the story and so I've come to the

Royal Welsh College of music and drama's scenic workshop to meet the

team responsible for these all-important elements. You are busy

painting. You're the assistant designer. How many props are you

making? In all, there are thousands because there are so many people

involved. And different set for different books? There are certain

storylines we will follow. Some are secret. It's all under wraps, I love

it! Is this the biggest event you worked on? Yes. And the mistrustful?

Yes! -- the most stressful. We give me a guided tour? Yes. What is this?

This is one of our polar explorer sledgers. We'll have two in the end,

a Norwegian one and a British one and they are not to his past of

Roald Dahl being Norwegian. It is covered in some fake fur that we

have painted down to look like they are covered in snow with lots of

different fabrics. This looks like an icicle, maybe? We have been

making icicles to add on and these are made from a glue gun. The team

has sourced allsorts of props to make everything as realistic as

possible. The attention to detail is impressive. If you are in the

Arctic, you need a cup of tea. Of course! This is the British one.

We have a Fantastic Mr Fox here and his family. This is Mr Fox, his wife

and two children. These are masks that will be worn by performers so

you have to spot them during the day. They will get allsorts of

mischief. What are they made of? They aren't casting moulds that you

can see here. This is one part that has come out, his nose. It is

covered in fabric and then cut back. That is the fun bit, isn't it? Yes.

Can I try one on? Full the front down and over. Can you see three?

Is folksy lady! -- foxy. The props dotted around the workshop are

straight from the pages of Roald Dahl's books as every day materials

are turned into works of art. Today, they're turning tennis balls into

peaches for an all-important banqueting scene. We are putting

paint on it to give it more texture and colour. Do you want to have a

go? It's a very yellow peach. I'm not sure that's right! Did you take

inspiration from real peaches? Yes, we have real peaches we're using the

colours from. There are loads of different components we aim to get

involved in and our job is really fun, we get to do a lot of painting,

glueing, sewing, there is a lot of different elements. This looks

incredibly small considering that Roald Dahl is famously known for the

giant Peach. This is quite big, this is bigger, but will we be seeing a

Giant Peach? You'll have to come and see. I was grateful for the tour but

with the weekend fast approaching, it's back to work. The next stop is

something that is right up my street.

You have composed of three new pieces for the show. It is an

honour. I grew up reading all of Roald Dahl's children's books and

that is something really nice in my old age, my 30s, to pay tribute to

that man and his characters, getting to write music and lyrics to it is

really nice. As he hear what he was, how do you begin channelling that

wonderful imagination? He's got a vocabulary, is language is very

magical, he has words like whizzpopping. I'm having a lot of

fun with that. Hopefully the music suggests a sense of magic and

otherworldly and the unexpected. Who's going to be singing this magic

on the day? We've got lots of children's quires and community

choirs who are going to be singing the songs, so that in itself is such

a privilege. I can't wait to hear it. Keeping everything harmonious on

the day is music supervisor David Marney. It's a very exciting

opportunity and one of the most ambitious project I've ever been

involved with. We're looking at about 3000 musicians throughout the

weekend, so new to us all. In addition to established quires, --

choirs, the project gives anyone the opportunity to take part and perform

the new music. And at the end of the weekend, the entire cast will come

together to perform his new anthem, title-mac thank you, Cardiff.

You'll have to come at the weekend to see the rest of it. Unexpected

pleasures in Cardiff, that's the excitement. I was a huge file of

Roald Dahl's books, the BFG, James the giant Peach, Charlie and the

factory, the list is endless and I cannot believe the man who brought

all these characters to life grew up in the village next to me. Roald

Dahl was born to Norwegian parents on the 3rd of September, 1916, and

was baptised in the Norwegian Church. They moved to Cumberland

Lodge following the death of his father and sister. A very important

figure was Joss Spivvis, we don't know anything about him other than

his name was Jones and he was a previous Rhondda miner. He used to

tell Roald Dahl terrible stories of when he went down the mine and that

comes back in interesting ways in Roald Dahl's description of the

giant elevator. They are described in exactly the same ways, so at the

heart of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory is a Rhondda minor's

experience. This blue plaque marks the four sweet shop where he used to

buy his sweets during his time at school which is well documented in

his autobiography, Boy. They played a trick on the miserable sweet shop

owner Mrs Pratchett by putting a dead mouse into a jug of -- jar of

gobstoppers. They didn't get away with it and they were trained by the

headmaster as punishment. In 1925, his mother sent across the Bristol

Channel to boarding school in Weston-Super-Mare but his boyhood in

Cardiff left a lasting impression. He never used to go to sleep unless

he was aligning himself in his bed with Llandaff over the Bristol

Channel that Roald Dahl always engaged in and it is my strong

belief he was constantly homing back to Wales in his writing.

The animal Wall on Castle Street with its serious of animals and

gargoyles peering over the castle wall is one of Cardiff's most iconic

features, but in keeping with the unexpected theme, where anything can

happen, design students from the Royal Welsh College and Trinity

College are working on a surprise of their own. They've been tasked with

creating their own Roald Dahl inspired animated puppets to sit

alongside the existing gargoyles and he's weird and wonderful creatures

will delight and surprise the audiences visiting the City of the

Unexpected. What are you up to? Obviously Roald Dahl talks about

different creatures from other worlds so we have taken those and

shuffled them all into one creature. It has these volcano horns that, it

is back and then he's got this enormous head which opens up to

reveal a little bird. We are puppeteering as well. We are the

kids that actually grew up with Roald Dahl's stories, so it is

fantastic to be able to channel are childhood imaginations into these

creations. It looks like you've got the messy job. It's the best job!

You've got to get nice and messy. It's latex. We're covering bits of

fabric in it, soaking it in it then applying it, it makes a really good

covering. This guy looks like he has an important job. You glueing his

head on? I'm using a soldering iron to melt into the shape I want, so

this is the head of Bert. He is mainly made out of thermoplastic, so

just heat it up and we can ship it into whatever we want. Show me how

it will work on the day. We got this frame that will open up on that sits

on the top of the wall so he kind of hangs on and this head hangs down.

It'll be able to open up and reveal little surprise inside. I love it.

Look out for Bert! What's this going to be? It's the bird from The Twits.

How does it work on the day? We will have the mother bird sat on top. She

will have her wings over like she's asleep, then she will open her wings

and she will pick a beat, blinked her eyes and the chicks will pop out

of the egg and say hello. This Roald Dahl world is definitely taking

shape and with the City of the Unexpected weekend just around the

corner, some very strange occurrences are being reported

online. Join us at the Riverside farmers market in Cardiff.

Eyewitnesses have described what appears to be a human sized fox like

figure enjoying the organic and home-made produce heat on the

market. We got a member of the ministry here today. Maybe we can

get some comments. No. Something seems to be happening. Let's get

this! I went to meet Matt Wright, digital designer for the online

content to find out more. We've created a really playful in world

Roald Dahl News website called the Bulletin, which provides a bit of

background content. If you're going to be there, you can actually

download an app we have created, so if there is something really

exciting happening over there and you are back here today bit

confused, you'll get a message coming through that tells you where

the sighting is happening. So you're signposting of these exciting

things? Exactly. There's some stuff on the website to see all ready,

isn't there? There is a selection of beautifully written stories. It also

suggests where a large food might appear -- fruit! We've also been

making nice video content. We worked with Derek Brockley. He forecasted

the weather in a very Roald Dahl we! -- way. If you're there during the

day, more information, how can you get involved? Either on your phone

or tablet, do you search for City of the Unexpected and all will be

revealed... Or not! There's no denying that this is an event on a

scale really seem in Wales -- seen. Down at this high school, the team

are rehearsing a particularly tricky set piece. The police have been

involved in the planning from the start, but Nigel has roped in

members of the public services into helping out and as per usual,

everything is top secret. We are rehearsing for the opening scene of

our event. We got fire engines, we got police, we've got all sorts to

cope with the very serious, dangerous thing that's going to

happen. We will treated exactly as we would leave real emergency. We

will work with the police force. I can't really say too much. Police,

let's move in a little bit, that's for a cauldron around it. Director

Nigel must only action skills of all involved to make the scene as

realistic as dramatic as possible. You're not at a picnic, a few at a

national disaster! -- you're at! What would be the next procedure if

it was radioactive? We can evacuate the immediate area. Congratulations,

we got the Oscar polished down here. I think the performing arts must sit

in the heart of the Welsh people and certainly the public services, who

had an important part of this scene -- who are an important part. True

to its title, City of the Unexpected will keep the visitors to Cardiff on

their toes as they enjoy some Roald Dahl magic and mayhem on the very

streets of this city that made him. After two years of planning and

months of designing, creating an rehearsing, all that's left to do is

to add some final finishing touches. We are all a little bit weary, but

very excited. Fingers crossed. As long as we don't get hit with too

many unexpected events from the heavens, I think we possibly got

something that people will remember, hopefully, for a long time. The last

few details are being put in place. I just can't wait for this magical

celebration to unfold. I'll be back next Wednesday at 7:30pm to bring

you all of the highlights. Remember, you can get life update sent

straight to your phone by visiting the City of the Unexpected website.

One thing is for sure, it's going to be an unmissable weekend and we can

expect the unexpected! Hello, I'm Tina Daheley

with your 90 second update. Today, nurse Pauline Cafferkey

has been cleared of misconduct.