Bristol Hippodrome – until 8th June 2019
Reviewed by Lucy Hitchcock
4****
Even, when they put in heaps of effort, they aren’t wasting energy!
The RSC’s Matilda has hit Bristol Hippodrome and you are not prepared! The classic Roald Dahl book has been formed by Dennis Kelly, Tim Minchin and Matthew Warchus to exude and explore the talent and passion of the young children cast in this wonderful production.
The story starts with Matilda (Olivia Cleverley) who is unloved and unappreciated by her parents (Rebecca Thornhill and Sebastian Torika). She goes off to school, where her teacher Miss Honey (Carley Thomas) is astounded by her ability to read, write and recite novels and times tables – at only 5 years old! She tried to bring the child genius to the forefront of the headmistress’ mind, Miss Trunchball (Elliot Harper) where she is immediately told that children are worms! Together, Matilda and Miss Honey and her entire class manage to overthrow the evil Miss Trunchball whilst Matilda’s parents get into some bother and have to jet off to Spain to escape the Mafia-giving the perfect opportunity for Miss Honey to adopt Matilda, become headteacher at Cruncham Hall and treat every child with love and respect!
Every child within this cast was incredible. They were sharp in their movements, perfectly in time and most of all, all extremely talented! Olivia Cleverley was our lead as Matilda and she was spectacular! She has a great singing voice that, when coupled with Peter Darling’s choreography, showed her immense talent and passion for what she does. It really was hard to believe that this is her first professional debut, as she held the stage like she had been doing this for years. Her rendition of Naughty encapsulated the essence of Matilda; she was cheeky, clever and always coming up with a solution. She is an absolute star and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for this little girl.
The infamous Bruce Bogtrotter was played by Charlie Garton. This was a slightly different take on Bruce as you may know from the film or book, but the direction he was taken was fabulous! Garton had to wonderful task of eating a whole chocolate cake before our very eyes-one I still haven’t managed to work out how he did!!! He also sang the beginning of Revolting Children showing off his beautiful voice and also adding in some dance moves that were just brilliant!! A wonderful role.
Elliot Harper as Miss Trunchbull was everything I wanted and more. He was authoritative, evil, towering and rude with a little flourish to add some depth to the character. The 6ft towered over the little ‘maggots’ with ease and when the hunchback and broad shoulders were seen, instilled a sense of fear into everybody! He fit the role absolutely perfectly and had some one liners that made the audience roar – these were perfectly executed. When faced with Carley Thoms as the gentle Miss Honey, we really saw the difference in character and it was a joy to watch him on stage and relish in his performance. Carley Thoms was a perfect fit also, kind-hearted and lovely but also vulnerable; she showed us her performance skills. Her voice was also suited well to the songs and she had a great show.
This is an absolute must-see!!