New Roald Dahl show in Cardiff searching for 6,000 performers

Wales Millennium Centre and National Theatre Wales are searching for 6,000 performers to take part in a weekend-long centenary celebration for much-loved author Roald Dahl.

Directed by Nigel Jamieson, Roald Dahl's City of the Unexpected will take place across Cardiff city centre from 17-18 September 2016.

Jamieson is looking for a cast of 6,000 volunteers, including 2,000 choristers, 1,000 dancers, 50 Morris Minor drivers, 40 bald men, 13 magicians, four brass bands, three excavator drivers, a Spitfire pilot, firemen, circus artists, aerialists, rockclimbers, grandparents, children and a performing mouse.

The event will be a mixture of some of Dahl's best-loved stories with visual spectacles in some of the city's iconic locations, including Cardiff Castle and the National Museum. Jamieson is looking for a cast to help perform these stories.

"Roald Dahl's imagination has touched the most extraordinary number of people around the world," Jamieson commented today. "For generations, he has been part of our bed times, our childhoods, and the development of our imaginations. It is thus fitting that the weekend celebrating his birth in Cardiff will involve one of the most ambitious mobilisations of a city's inhabitants ever attempted, together transforming it into a place that will unlock the child in everyone and create a city of wonder and surprise."

Luke Kelly, managing director of the Roald Dahl Literary estate and Roald Dahl's grandson added: "Roald Dahl's City of the Unexpected is undoubtedly going to be one of the highlights of the Roald Dahl 100 celebrations this year."

Anyone interested in taking part, whether as a performer, a maker or an organiser, is encouraged to get in touch via their website.