“There’s a newt in my knickers!”
It’s hard to believe “Matilda” has been conjuring its magic in the UK for nearly fifteen years beginning back before Covid, before Brexit in 2011. It’s even harder to believe this well-versed critic, whose bottom has dinted hundreds of stalls seats at hundreds of shows, has resolutely failed to see it. Mea culpa. How can you ever forgive me, but tonight I make amends by treating my eyes and ears to their very first viewing. I may not have seen this Matilda, but I have seen a Matilda. Here’s a little known factoid for Tilly fans. An earlier musical version c.1992 toured the country playing number one dates without hitting the West End to great acclaim but rummage the internet and you’ll little mention as it’s upstaged by its younger, shinier sister. This one.
“Matilda” popped out of the hugely talent mind of Roald Dahl back in 1988 and this stage version evolved from the RSC with a book by acclaimed playwright Dennis Kelly and the much lauded and much applauded Tim Minchin. Seven Olivier awards and sundry other accolades later, Matilda washes up on the shores of Birmingham finding a welcome home here at the Hippodrome. But will a show which has lasted so long and been viewed so many times stand up to the test. Will it be fresh and shiny as if it were newly minted? Let’s see…
Well, yes and then some. The show pulses with vitality and verve from the very first word and deploys its clever plot with clear precision where even the most complex ideas are cleanly delivered. Talking of plot Kelly has woven in a neat sub-plot which nicely and satisfyingly ties everything up at the end though I don’t remember from the book Turnbull’s very, very heinous crime. Perhaps that’s an update.
Richard Hurst grabs the Trunchbull by the horns and makes the vile and loathsome creature an object of derision with demonic precision and relish. A fabulously grotesque iteration who bullies and berates the delightful Miss Honey played here with delicate aplomb by Tessa Kadler. The ever-reliable Adam Stafford brings his vaudevillian zeal to Mr.Wormwood full of energy and life coupled with Rebecca Thornhill who matches him note for note and word for word forming a deliciously Ugly Parents duo.
But the stars of the night are, of course, the children who explode with passion, pep and pizzaz. Matilda was played by Sanna Kurihara with an assured maturity and consummate timing holding her own next to the adults and delivering an engaging and truthful performance. She shares the role with Madison Davis, Mollie Hutton and Olivia Ironmonger throughout the run. Oisin-Luca Pegg gives a great showing as the cake gobbling Bruce Bogtrotter and shares the part with Carter-J Murphy, Brodie Robson and Takunda Khumalo.
The entire show tumbles with zest, zing and zip and every moment is honed to perfection by the Royal Shakespeare Company continuing to prove a beacon of excellence in British Theatre.
Reviewer: Peter Kinnock
Reviewed: 2nd July 2026
North West End UK Rating: