The Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Matilda the Musical has arrived in Norfolk for a five-week run at Norwich Theatre Royal and it should be on everyone’s summer holiday activities list!
For those who don’t know (where have you been hiding!?) the story is about a brave and talented young girl, whose intelligence and imagination are constantly belittled by her cruel parents and awful headmistress. Along her journey to stand up to these bullies and to sometimes Be A Little Bit Naughty, Matilda discovers she has special powers and eventually gets everything she wished for.
This classic children’s story by Roald Dhal was published in 1988 before being adapted into the popular 1996 film starring Danny DeVito and Pam Ferris. In 2010 Matilda the musical wowed audiences and soon began it’s West End residency, before embarking on a UK and Ireland tour.
Read more – SIX the Musical
The staging and scenery was an explosion of books, letters and colour. I occasionally found myself starring at sections during less busy scenes to fully appreciate the effort and work. Each scene was carefully lit and the use of swings created a free-spirited element to the song When I Grow Up. My favourite scene and musical number was School Song. Clever use of words and phonetics married the lyrics to alphabet blocks and all while fast-paced choreography was performed around and on gates (imagine gym apparatus/ climbing frame) – it was captivating.
The full cast consists of children and adults, and includes adults playing the role of school children, but the key child characters were brilliantly played by children. The complex and demanding role of Matilda (she was very rarely off-stage for the whole production!) will be played, on rotation, by five different actors throughout the run in Norwich, but leading the cast on Thursday’s press night was the very talented Sophie Woolhouse.
Controversially, the role of Miss Trunchball is performed by a male actor and I was concerned there would be a panto dame vibe, but Elliot Harper portrayed the butch and aggressive headmistress with finesse.
Sebastien Torkia and Rebecca Thornhill and were a comedy duo as Mr and Mrs Wormwood, while Theo Hanness stole the stage with some impressive vocals and, incredible cake-eating ability!
Read more – RSC’s Romeo and Juliet
This award-winning musical is bursting with energy and shouldn’t be missed. It’s clever and intricate details combined with love and laughter offers something for everyone – a show for the whole family.
If you can get a ticket, go see it. Call the box office on 01603 630000. Matilda runs at Norwich Theatre Royal until Saturday 17 August 2019.
Theatre thoughts... 