Matilda

I was delighted to return to The Daneside Theatre, Congleton once again to see Congleton Amateur Youth Theatre’s 2022 production of Matilda the Musical. This version, played out to a sell out audience and was greatly received by the audience which entertained throughout. Directed by NODA Award winning actor William Vickers, this production had everything! Clear ideas, well balanced characters, and high production values. William had his work cut out: working with a large, fully inclusive, youth cast, but that hard work has certainly paid off! There were a lot of scenes that were staged differently to how I’ve seen this show before which worked brilliantly! Notably the Matilda/Mrs Phelps scenes which are always hard to stage, especially with the Escapologist and Acrobat thrown in too but William’s vision of using the front cloths really worked and these scenes were well done. The overall set was very striking, and the production values were high. I loved the painting of the books, both on the side flats and the steps at the back! Well done to the set team for your obvious hard work. I also liked the use of the walkway through the audience which was used well throughout to add other locations. I especially loved this at the start of the School Song. The use of having hockey sticks as the gates were a stroke of genius too! One thing to note that could’ve been improved was the overall diction. Whilst the pace and projection was great, I tend to find that (in general) year on year that youth actors tend to have lazy diction. I also wasn’t a massive fan of the scene changes, which meant that crew were visible at times and the scene changes were very noisy and distracting. There were times when cast members moved set and this really worked so perhaps this could’ve been explored further with the non-heavy items of set? Overall, the direction was strong, and it was clear that William worked extremely well with this very young cast, some of whom haven’t stepped foot on a stage before!

William Vickers was also the choreographer for this production. Despite there being far more opportunities to showcase the talents of this society, especially for Revolting Children and Chokey Chant, it certainly didn’t need it. All numbers were staged appropriately, and the cast were well drilled in movement and choreography. I liked some of the shaping of numbers too, such as The Smell of Rebellion.

Ben Evans Clarke took the helm as Musical Director and it’s clear that the cast have been working hard to convey meaning, feeling and intention, as well as sounding good. Some of these songs are very wordy and having a cast so young could’ve been potentially difficult but I have to say that all cast knew the words and the meaning/intentions really came across. One thing that didn’t quite work for me was the beginning section of Quiet. I felt that it was pushed too hard, and we lost a lot of words. The ending of Quiet was of course beautifully sung!

A special mention has to go to the brilliant props team for their obvious hard work. I have to single out Wendy McKie in particular who continues to produce some of the best props in the entire district!

Well done to the set build team who produced an amazing set, complete with working chalkboard, gym horse and highly functioning and movable set, complete with 9 old school style desks. The set not only looked effective, but it was brilliantly used throughout, and I would highly recommend this to any other society out there who are looking for a Matilda set to hire.

The lighting design was great, and I really enjoyed the use of spots and gobos to add layers to scenes. I particularly liked the gobos for the Chokey Chant and the scene at the end with Matilda, Mrs Phelps and Miss Honey. Contradictorily, there were far too many areas of the stage in darkness and far too many times when actors either missed their small pool of light or whose faces were not lit. But I really did appreciate the lighting design overall which worked well.

The sound was brilliant! Tom Maurice is one of the best in the business and his work on this production meant that we could hear everything and appreciate the vocals throughout. Well done!

Matilda was wonderfully played by Chloe Furlong! I am told that Chloe is 9 years old! Nine! It amazes me how someone so young can not only play a large role, learn all those lines and sing so many songs but to do it so wonderfully with comic timing, draw the audience in to the more subtle moments and sing with emotion and heart! Chloe was brilliant casting and I’m sure the casting team were rubbing their hands with glee when Chloe walked into the auditions! Despite some slight diction issues at times, Chloe was wonderful in this role and never off stage! A wonderfully commanding performance!

Miss Trunchbull was played by Connor Timmis. I really liked to subtilties that Connor brought to the role and his diction and storytelling was brilliant! I personally would’ve loved to have seen a more energised and shouty/evil Trunchbull, but this is not a reflection on Connor’s ability. Connor had great stage presence also!

Miss Honey was beautifully played by Alice Maddocks. I don’t think people appreciate how hard of a role this is to play, but Alice is among the best I’ve seen. I really loved her nervousness, and her voice was beautiful - This Little Girl was beautifully sung!

Charlie House and Niamh Moss were a great comedy double act as Mr and Mrs Wormwood. I really liked the harshness of Charlie’s interpretation of Mr Wormwood – which is often shied away from. He was extremely likeable and unlikeable at the same time, which is so hard to do, and Charlie was brilliantly cast! Equally, I loved the harness that Niamh brought to Mrs Wormwood, and she used her voice and physically very well to aid this. Well done to both! Mason Royall was effortless as Michael Wormwood and really helped add the comedy moments to scenes.

Maddie Holford and James Castle did well to add to the story of the Acrobat and the Escapologist. I really enjoyed their scenes, and I loved the way in which they were staged. Good use of dolls too in the first of their scenes.

There are far too many other characters for me to mention in any great details and I wouldn’t like to leave anyone out, especially the named kids in Matilda’s class! I have to say that all were fab and really helped layer scenes and help with the overall storyline. Your energy was brilliant, and it was a joy to watch each and every one of you on stage. You looked like you were all having the time of your lives on stage which put a smile on the audiences faces! The man behind me was continuously laughing all the way through and the audience were engrossed throughout – a sure fire way to see that this show was a hit!

Well done to Congleton Amateur Youth Theatre for a brilliant show. I thank you for your amazing hospitality (Sue Beech and Lorraine House) and I wish you all the very best for your next production of Alice in Wonderland in May 2023!

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