Its often said that you can do a lot with a little and that imagination alone can take you a long way.

I don’t think you could find a clearer example of that than the hilarious, manic and hugely enjoyable production of Roald Dhal’s ’The Twits’, performed by Chloe Shimmin and Michelle James of the Hello Little People Theatre Company.

Using every ounce of their theatre craft, employing one inventive stage trick after another and using every ounce of creative and physical energy to turn a stage play that was written for eight characters into one that works around only two, the two actors filled the huge stage of the Gaiety Theatre and brought joy to the thousands of kids and adults alike.

Chloe and Michelle essentially played Mr and Mrs Twit, a grotesque and loathsome couple beset with terrible habits, who enjoy nothing more than playing horrible practical jokes on each other.

They come up with a plan to catch birds and bake them into a pie and, when that fails, they kidnap a family of monkeys, the Mugglewumps, and force them to perform tricks upside down.

Thankfully, the Mugglewumps’ friend, the Roly Poly Bird was on hand to help them trick the Twits into thinking they were shrinking and to escape back to the jungle.

One minute Chloe was a grotesque old man, hidden behind an overweight jumper and a monstrous beard full of sticky horribleness and the next she was cavorting around the stage dressed as a monkey.

Michelle was a similarly ogre-ish creature with a head of filthy, unkempt hair and a leering glass-eye, the next she was flying through the Gaiety as a bright, exotic jungle bird.

The slapstick gags had children howling with laughter and, as the play went on, the audience became more involved, with the entire crowd being encouraged to take their shoes off and wave them over their heads.

Both slipped from one character to another, even while operating puppets and rarely gave the impression you were watching only two people performing, such was the level of commitment and energy on the stage and, with the two running up and down the wings at every opportunity, off it too.

’We had a ball from start to finish and I’m glad that, judging by the feedback we’ve had, it seemed the audience did too,’ said Michelle.

’We were lucky to have a great team of people helping us behind the scenes, making sure we could jump in and out of our costumes and having everything to hand.

’Despite that, we were still exhausted at the end of each show!’