The Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of the musical MATILDA is now a firm family favourite in the West End so we sent mother and daughter, Nicky and Rosie Chambers (aged 8) to check it out and report back with their reviews.Nicky Chambers (Mum) said:
My daughter, Rosie now aged 8, was too young when Matilda initially opened in London. I watched it with my husband thinking it was a bit dark for children. How wrong was I - now she is old enough and she absolutely loved it – even more than the film – she said.
Rosie loves performing too so appreciated how hard the children will have had to work to be so good! We were both completely blown away by them – they are definitely the stars of the show.
Lizzie Wells was a perfect Matilda and we were very excited to hear that this was her very first public performance in this role, together with the rest of the children and quite a few of the adult cast. We would not have known this had we not been told at the beginning as the performances across the board were outstanding.
The staging, songs and lyrics suit the piece brilliantly and we loved the convention of Matilda telling the story of The Escapologist to Mrs Phelps on her visits to the library. ‘When I Grow Up’ with the children all on the swings was a big highlight for both of us and Revolting Children was stunning – the children were all so breathtakingly disciplined.
Personally, I felt the length of the piece at two hours, forty minutes is too long for younger children - Rosie got very tired mid-way through the 2nd half. There could be more made of Matilda being able to move things with her mind a bit earlier on. This does not happen until the 2nd half and it feels a long time coming because if you know the story you are waiting in anticipation for it. I also found the beginning of Act 2 with Mr Wormwood and son and Violet talking to the audience a little strange as this was not a convention used in any other part of the production.
However, I am just being picky and still think this is a first class production and we had a wonderfully magical evening. We would definitely recommend it to adults and children over 8 and especially to all Roald Dahl lovers out there.
Rosie Chambers (Aged 8) said:
The show was even better than I expected and I liked it better than the film. My favourite character was probably Miss Trunchbull and Matilda. Lizzie Wells was very good. I would like to play Matilda. The set and costume design were absolutely AMAZING. I loved all the letters making the walls. My favourite song was on the swings ‘When I Grow Up’ and my most favourite part of the show was the bows at the end because of the scooters.
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I’ve seen the jukebox, biographical musical BEAUTIFUL, about the life and music of Carole King before, both in New York and at London’s Aldwych Theatre and always quite enjoyed it.