MATILDA: It’s the adults that are revolting in delightful Citadel musical
What a joyful, merry, nasty, chaotic and thoroughly enjoyable romp is this adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda: The Musical, currently settling in for three more weeks at the Citadel Theatre.
The much-awarded winning musical is still playing in London’s West End. It was a big hit on Broadway, and it was there that Citadel artistic director Daryl Cloran saw it and immediately knew that it should be the musical cornerstone of his season.
Roald Dahl had great success writing for children (and their parents). His books are filled with the wonder of childhood, but the author challenged his young readers to go into darker areas. Usually they are tales of empowerment as told from the perspective of the least powerful of them all – the kids. They inevitably involve adult villains who hate and mistreat children. Dark though his tales may be, there is always one good adult on the kid’s side and an undercurrent of warm sentiment. Many of his books, most of which were best-sellers, went on to come successful children’s films. They include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, The BFG and of course Matilda.
This musical adaptation from writer Dennis Kelly and composer-lyricist Tim Minchin is witty and playful while tapping into the book’s gleeful anarchy. The adults are beastly – with a couple of exceptions – and the children put upon. Matilda (played by Lilla Solymos on the night we saw it; she alternates with Winnipeg’s Anna Anderson-Epp) is a precocious five-yea- old. Precocious? Naw, the kid is a veritable savant – learning Russian to read Dostoevsky’s books in the language they were written. Did I mention that she has telekinesis – the ability to move things around by the power of her mind – a talent that will become useful before the end of the evening.
Sadly for Matilda, her TV-addicted parents are not only unaware of her brilliance, they belittle and mistreat the child every chance they can. They ship her off to that dreaded British institution – the private boarding school. This is the school of your worst nightmares. It’s called Crunchen Hall (Motto: Children are Maggots) run by the fearsome Miss Trunchbull (played by John Ullyatt). Also at the school is the shy and insecure Miss Honey (Alison MacDonald), who forms a bond with Matilda.
The rest of the evening shows how the children band together under Matilda’s resolute leadership to overthrow the terrible Miss Trunchbull in a mad, glorious celebration of self-determination (and joyous theatrical legerdemain as staged by director Daryl Cloran) that makes you want to leap to your feet and cheer and, possibly, shed a couple of tears.
Cloran has directed Lauren Bowler and Ben Elliott to play the Wormwood parents in cartoon-like fashion. The enmity toward their daughter is malevolent, but the two actors are so good they manage to keep us laughing. Bowler gets a spirited show-stopping salsa dance of her own, and Elliott is very funny with a body apparently composed of silly putty.
MacDonald is a lovely Miss Honey with a beautiful voice who also gets to find fulfillment. Sharon Crandall (the librarian) is comically enraptured by the stories that Matilda spins, and Andrew MacDonald-Smith is the stalwart stuff of the dreams that Matilda uses to escape from her uncaring family. Ullyatt, the Citadel’s go-to guy for terrific performances big and small, hasn’t been this outrageous since he played Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the Citadel’s Rocky Horror Picture Show. If the rest of the cast wasn’t so good he would run off with the show. Dressed in a grey sweat shirt and tartan skirt and boasting a bosom that enters the room seconds before the rest of him (her) shows up, he (she) charges about the stage, fixing kids with a glare that would strike fear in the stoutest of young hearts. Ullyatt has many good scene-stealing moments, but shines particularly in his show-stopping solo, The Smell of Rebellion.
After watching the West End production I was sure that Cloran would go for some show business pro in the lead role. Matilda is called upon to dance like a practiced hoofer and sing full-out like a mini Judy Garland. But no, as a gesture of faith in our own theatrical community, he found Solymos in the Citadel’s own theatre school (she also played Tiny Tim for three years). He chose well. She’s a pint-sized powerhouse delivering her lines and songs with a polished verve, while showing the young girl’s vulnerability and strength.
All this takes place in Cory Sincennes’ witty set of books and reflecting panels that somehow manage to be expansive and intimate at the same time. Cloran’s direction is wildly imaginative, veering between heart and intelligence, fun and menace.
Don Horsburgh leads a very supportive house band and Kimberley Rampersad’s choreography is outstanding, flowing in and out of Cloran’s direction.
Playing until March 17, Matilda is a show for children – and perhaps, for a few revolting adults as well.
Photos by Dylan Hewlett, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre
