THE world's most revolting couple - and there are plenty of contenders - will be on the rampage in York next week.

Stand back and make way for Mr and Mrs Twit, Roald Dahl's horrible creations, who will be seeking to out-twit each other with their nasty tricks at the Grand Opera House from Tuesday to Saturday.

Destined for an eight-week Christmas run in London, the Coventry Belgrade Theatre production of Dahl's wonderfully disgusting children's story continues the fruitful run of David Wood adaptations at the York theatre.

The BFG, The Witches and James And The Giant Peach have all been transferred from page to stage by Wood, each show visiting York. The Twits arrives in York in its fifth incarnation, newly revised by Wood and director Kathi Leahy.

The story of the trick-playing Mr and Mrs Twit and their struggle with a captured monkey family, the Mugglewumps, has had a circus setting in past productions. Not this time.

"When we first did it, because my background was in highly visual, physical theatre, the thing that came out of our discussions was to use circus skills," Kathi says.

"We decided to set it not in the Twits' house but in a caravan; so we played out the Twits' domestic life as if they were in a circus, with the Twits being very much Laurel & Hardy characters.

"This time we've gone back to the book, and rather than the caravan, we have them in their dark house, and rather than a circus, which was over-stating it, we're just using circus skills instead of presenting the show as a circus."

The new production starts outside the auditorium. "We cast the company of eight actors as a 1950s' travelling troupe who are making their living out of performing. They first perform in the bar having come down the street; they then discover more in the auditorium, then discover their set and become the characters in the story. The point is, you can create magic in any space and it is just a question of how you use that space," says Kathi.

"So we'll be using the convention of audience participation and the audience has to play its part to ensure the Twits are outwitted.

"I once ran an Irish theatre company that very much interacted with the audience, who had to shout out things during the shows, and I think we should all interact in theatre shows or we might as well sit at home and watch the telly."

The Twits, Grand Opera House, York, November 4 to 8. Performances: Tuesday, 7pm; Wednesday, 10.30am, 1.30pm; Thursday to Saturday, 1.30pm, 7pm. Tickets: £7.50 to £13.50; ring 0870 606 3595. Please note, this show is suitable for children aged five and upwards.

Updated: 08:55 Friday, October 31, 2003