In the 1980s when I was writing about theatre for Time Out, Plays and Players, and — hard though it is to believe — Girl About Town magazine, I never thought I’d be hearing my name spoken and my voice acted on the stage of a major theatre.

Lithgow plays Dahl initially as a charming old rogue, all spidery elongated limbs and wire wool hair as though drawn by Quentin Blake himself – yet his unrepentant, raptor-like glee in his untouchable reputation and pugilistic love for pouncing on weakness in others grows exponentially as the play progresses.