James and the Giant Peach. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The BFG.

All are classic children's stories by Roald Dahl, but many people don't realize that Roald Dahl wrote a collection of adult fiction as well.

Tonight, No Refund Theatre (NRT) will explore Dahl's adult taste in Playing with Dahls, a play featuring Dahl's more mature works.

Dustin Yenser (senior-secondary education) is the assistant director for the show. He said he decided to try to introduce students to Dahl's adult work by adapting four of his adult short stories into a play.

"I think [Dahl] is one of the best fiction authors of the twentieth century. It's a shame that his adult fiction isn't as well known," Yenser said.

Yenser said he has always been a big fan of Dahl's children's books, his favorite being James and the Giant Peach. His favorite adult short story is Genesis and Catastrophe, which is one of the four stories he adapted for the show.

"It really can change your perspective and makes you realize that one of the most evil men in human history was still just a man," said Yenser.

The three other adapted stories are William and Mary, Lamb to the Slaughter and Man from the South.

Yenser said he has been a member of NRT for two years, has acted in seven plays, and assistant directed The Curious Savage last spring. He said Playing with Dahls has 10 cast members.

Blythe Hart (senior-theatre arts) has been a member of NRT for five years and said she is an actor in three parts of Playing with Dahls.

"I can't tell you too much without giving it away." Hart said, "But in my main role, I play a woman who's just given birth to her fourth child, after she had lost three others."

She said this part focuses on the anxieties of that and is more serious than the other three parts, which are more comedic.

"Roald Dahl was a sick man with a dark sense of humor, and it's great," Hart said.

Tim Portnoy (senior-theatre arts) is another actor in Playing with Dahls.

He has been involved in NRT since spring of his sophomore year, and has acted in several shows.

Portnoy said he has two roles in the show. He plays a detective investigating the murder of a colleague in Lamb to the Slaughter. He also plays a doctor in Genesis and Catastrophe.

"It's a very fun role to do as an actor," said Portnoy. "It's a very intense scene with lots of emotion."

Portnoy said he thinks it will be a very good night of theater showcasing some of Roald Dahl's best work.

"Dustin has done a very good job of making [the short stories] into theatrical pieces," he said.

Yenser said he thinks anyone with even a passing interest in Dahl's children's fiction should go to the show. "I think they'd see that there's a lot more to him than Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," he said.