Matilda the Musical, at Mayflower Theatre, Southampton

Ahh, a family classic that I have been wanting to see for the longest time – Matilda the Musical. I absolutely loved Matilda as a child so to see how it had been transformed into a musical was something I, and I’m sure many others, were super excited to go and watch. On Wednesday evening I was lucky enough to be gifted tickets to watch Matilda the Musical theatre show.

Back in 2010 Matilda the Musical was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, opening to rave reviews, and it has now been seen by more than 7.7 million people worldwide.

Matilda the Musical is the story of a strong-willed, extraordinary child who is not scared to challenge situations and wants to change her own destiny.

On stage, it is performed in an incredibly clever way, sharp with a bit of cheekiness thrown in. It somehow manages to show darkness mixed in with cheeriness and jokes too, capturing your attention throughout.

Much of this is down to the cast, who were just unbelievable. From the moment the show started the amount of energy on show bounced off of the cast members, particularly the children. The dance moves were strong and everything seemed to flow so easily, even the timings of their fast-paced moves.

With the cast being mainly children I wasn’t sure what to expect, but they definitely went beyond my expectations, every single one of them, with Freya Scott who played Matilda definitely being a stand-out. Those who played Lavender, Amanda and Bruce were brilliant too, showing lots of personality to their characters.

Elliot Harper who played Miss Trunchball, one of the adult cast, definitely stood out to me too. His character on stage really made you hate her, as you would expect. He was horrific, but also had a slight level of a regular human to his character.

Let’s not forget the larger-than-life Mr and Mrs Wormwood (Sebastien Torkia and Rebecca Thornhill) and the lovely kind-hearted Miss Honey (Carly Thoms) too.

The musical, once again, was better than I could have imagined. The music was full of clever lyrics that really captured your attention and got you feeling that moment of the show in its entirety. Tim Minchin has done an incredible job putting these lyrics together.

The staging was done in such a clever way too, with moving tables, Bruce’s cake disappearing and just generally constantly changing. There was always something new to look at, I particularly loved the swings which were on stage during the song When I Grow Up, and the show main setup with the multiple wooden lettered tiles.

It’s a musical that has really made me fall in love with Matilda all over again – it’s definitely one that you need to go and see if you haven’t already.

Matilda the Musical is on at Mayflower Theatre until the 6th July so make sure you head down and get a ticket if you can.

*Tickets were provided complimentary in return for this review, but as always all thoughts and opinions remain my own. The photos used in this post were provided by Mayflower Theatre for use in this review. Please see my disclaimer for more information.