Roald Dahl's Matilda is one of my favourite childhood books - the dog-eared, much loved copy sitting on my bookshelf evidence of the great affection in which I hold it. So last weekend, some friends and I travelled to the Big Smoke to revel in the RSC's riotously joyful musical adaptation of the classic. A couple of us were greedily wanting seconds, having seen and loved the show during its original run at Stratford a year ago. And the seconds were just as delicious - Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly, writers of the music and lyrics respectively, have done a marvellous job of capturing the spirit of the book.
The cast are as memorable as the tunes: Bertie Carvel, dragged up as the monstrous Miss Trunchbull, bosoms like ballistic missiles, is inspired as the villain of the piece. As he spat out quintessentially Dahlian insults such as 'maggot!' and 'twerp', his performance culminating in the hilarious show tune 'Phys Ed', he seemed the very incarnation of Quentin Blake's illustrations. As indeed, did Paul Kaye as Matilda's weasly father Mr Wormwood. The child performers were also a joy to behold - the role of Matilda, shared by four girls on a rotating basis, was brilliantly performed just as it had been in Stratford (though I confess I didn't catch either girl's name), with cracking support from the other young performers playing Bruce, Lavender, et al. The energy they bought to the stage was infectious and had me smiling broadly long after the show had ended.
The stage itself was quite the sight to behold: tumbling alphabet blocks provided a colourful frame for events, with desks rising from the floor and swings dropping from the ceiling. There were some fancy flourishes added to the London production, but thankfully nothing which detracted from the the purity and simplicity of the original show. The same cunning effects were used for the infamous pigtail swinging and hair dyeing scenes - not to mention those in which Matilda uses her special powers - to the delighted gasps of children and adults alike.
Like Roald Dahl's story, the show never shies away from the darkness or cartoonish grotesquerie which kids - and lets be honest, adults- love. There are some more poignant moments, but none are too sickly and its great to watch a production in which the kids are the right side of cute. As we root for Matilda to avenge the grown up bullies around her, there are cheeky little pokes at contemporary culture: Miss Trunchbull's office is a parody of a surveillance society, with TV monitors which track her pupils scaling the walls; TV is also pilloried in the Wormwood family home (and perhaps through Mrs Wormwood's ballroom dancing, a swipe is dealt to the likes of Strictly ...? I might be overthinking this :-)). These pokes are complemented with a retro feel to the brightly coloured sets which I loved - the vaulting horses and blackboards of Crunchem School took me right back to primary school, and the C & A bag swinging from Mrs Wormwood's arm would have chimed with many a grown up in the audience.
Minchin, who could almost emerge from the pages of a Dahl book himself with his mad hair and kohl-rimmed eyes, has penned some corking uptempo numbers which capture the ebullience of youth and the right to be 'naughty' wonderfully - the closing number 'Revolting Children' is a little bit School of Rock and a little bit soul. Only the original novel can vie for supremacy as an artistic advocate for a child's right to self-expression. This production is like the best school play ever (and as one of my friends pointed out, will likely become a staple on the school circuit before long); the evident pleasure of the performers is matched by the enjoyment of the audience. And more to the point, its a validation for bookworms like me the world over.
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