Technical effects make PCC's 'BFG' challenging

The Pima Community College production of Roald Dahl's "The BFG (Big Friendly Giant)," with Nugent at the helm, will be a lot of things, but stripped-down isn't one of them.

The director said the hardest part of "The BFG" has been adjusting to the special effects and props his story requires.

"It's going to be a challenge," he said. "It's all up to the technical staff."

The story, from Dahl's children's book, takes place partly in a magical place called Giant Country, inhabited by a race of scary, kid-eating giants who sneak into the human world at night.

The Big Friendly Giant isn't like those giants, though. He puts dreams in jars and uses a trumpet to blow them into sleeping kids' rooms.

Despite scaling back the script a bit and some effects he called "technical nightmares," Nugent said he's confident children in the audience will be enthralled.

"We're making that part of the story work," he said.

"That part of the story" includes 2- to 3-foot papier-mâché heads for actors playing the bad giants, as well as giant-sized shadow puppets and sets.

One of the play's central characters, a girl named Sophie, will be played by an actress and, when she is with the giant, a lifelike miniature doll.

Nugent said he is calling on his experience as a choreographer to work with the effects and sounds to create a play that is still "fun and physical."

Dahl's works are often called dark, and "The BFG" is no different.

While Nugent said he respects the scarier elements of the story, he doesn't want them to be overwhelming for children.

"I don't want to terrify them," he said. "We're just trying to be theatrical."

Nugent insists the heart of the story is the sweet soul of the big friendly giant.

More than anything, Nugent wants kids and families to enjoy themselves.

"It's so much fun thinking we're going to make all these little kids laugh," he said. "There's nothing better than making kids laugh"

In particular, Nugent pointed to his effects for "whizzpoppers," the result of the giant drinking some magic soda.

"They're fart noises," Nugent said. "Who doesn't laugh at fart noises?"

Preview

"The BFG (Big Friendly Giant)"

• By: Adapted by David Wood from the story by Roald Dahl.

• Director: Mickey Nugent.

• When: 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, next Friday through Oct. 7.

• Where: PCC Center for the Arts, Proscenium Theatre, West Campus, 2202 West Anklam Road.

• Tickets: $6.

• Information: 206-6986.

• Running time: 90 minutes, with no intermission.

• Appropriate for: Children 3 and up.