Roald Dahls Matilda was one of my favourite books as a child. It’s such a great story to read, so when i noticed the musical was coming to Plymouth earlier this year i decided to book seats. My daughter hadn’t read the book so we bought it her for Christmas.
Our tickets were booked for the end of January, we nearly didn’t go due to family illness. I am glad we did as it created amazing memories for my daughter. This was her first proper trip to the theatre. She went to see Peppa Pigs Big Splash when she was three.
When we walked into the theatre we were greeted with some amazing Lego models of the characters. Matilda was our favourite.
We headed to our seats, E was super excited and couldn’t wait for it to start.
The stage looked amazing, simple but eyecatching. As you can see it is all alphabet tiles and Matilda spelled out in Scrabble type letter lights.
The Perfomance
The audience were waiting patiently for the performance to begin. I was blown away when the stage was full of light and young performers singing the opening song Miracle. This song was really catchy.
This adaptation of the book follows it closely but not the same. Matilda is an extremely gifted child who is neglected by her parents and treated badly by her school head mistress. The story is a little bit dark at times, however the humour keeps you laughing.
After the first song we were introduced to Mr and Mrs Wormwood. Mrs Wormwood is unknowingly in labour and about to have a baby, which she is unhappy about.
The set is varied and transforms seamlessly from a classroom scene one minute to the Wormwood’s living room the next without you even noticing. There is also plenty of clever tricks and stunts throughout too. I did wonder how Bruce’s huge chocolate cake disappeared before our very eyes, my daughter said he has eaten all that cake!
All the young cast are involved in a great song, School Life. The choreography for this scene is very creative.
A great scene that made us all laugh is when Miss Trunchbull grabbed hold of a young girls pigtails and swung her around by them. The girl, Amanda disappears for a while leaving everyone questioning where she has gone. She then landed on the stage not long after.
At the interval E couldn’t wait for the second half to start. We decided to get some ice cream to eat – A lovely treat.
We were both looking forward to more ‘chokey’ action and seeing what happens next. There was more great songs, dance routines and the story played out wonderfully. I was a fan of Miss Honey and how the story has a happy ending with Matilda living with her.
Final Thoughts
The songs by Tim Minchin fit so well. Clever songs which capture the mood perfectly. The choreography is stunning and the set is a work of art. There are some amazing visual affects too
The whole performance was fantastic start to finish and had us both entertained and intrigued. We didn’t want it to end. E talked about it for weeks on end and kept singing the songs. I think its safe to say she enjoyed it and i now look forward to taking her to the theatre again.
We have now ticked off another item on our 2019 bucket list. What a great performance to see to tick ‘Go to the Theatre’ off the list.
Our theatre selfie
I totally recommend going to see Matilda, whether it is on tour or in London at the Cambridge Theatre. It is suitable for Children age 7, anything below i don’t think they will appreciate the amazing performance.
