Vaudeville Theatre – until 8 September 2019
Reviewed by Alexandra Sykes
5*****
Possibly the best way to spend a Sunday afternoon is to reminisce about your childhood, so going to see The Worst Witch really does bring back memories.
With the show introduced by Miss Cackle (Polly Lister), the pupils of Miss Cackles academy put on a play as a showcase event during the schools open day, in which Miss Hardbroom (Rachel Heaton) only agreed to take part to make sure the girls don’t mess around. The play starts with Mildred (Danielle Bird) arriving at the wrong school but with a bit of help from new best friend Maud (Rebecca Killick) she soon settles in, despite the constant put downs from Ethel (Rosie Abraham), a witch who believes she is better than the others as she is from a family of witches who were all head girls at the academy. As well as potions with Miss Hardbroom, the girls also have chanting with Miss Bat (Molly-Grace Cutler) and fitness lessons with Miss Drill (Megan Leigh Mason). Although the first half goes well, the second half is interrupted by the arrival of Agatha, Miss Cackles’ evil twin sister who plans on taking over the academy and the world. However the girls combine forces and defeat Agatha, and save the school.
The set is designed to look like the outline of the school with different platforms to represent Mildred’s room, Miss Cackle’s office and the band pit, the band consisting of members of the cast. The costumes are a nod back to the books with the girls in the school uniform of the academy, Miss Cackle in a plum dress and cardigan and Miss Hardbroom in a long black dress.
A show full of laughs, audience participation and good overcoming evil, this is a family friendly show, or just a really good show if you were a fan of The Worst Witch when you were younger. The best line in the whole show belongs to Miss Cackle “This is the oldest magical school in Britain, you might even say the original” which got laughs and cheers from the audience as it is a sly dig at a certain other magical school.
All in all an amazing magical show which everyone should go and see this summer whether or not they have children