Matilda Jr

It was lovely to make the journey to Porth Community School to watch their performance of Matilda Jr.   The musical follows the well-known story written by Roald Dahl with lots of lovely music thrown in for good measure.  I was fortunate to see one of two casts chosen by the Expressive Arts staff at the school and I’m sure the cast that I didn’t see were equally as good as the cast that I saw!

In the title role of Matilda, Belle Williams gave a great performance.  She was full of character and had a lovely singing voice.  She was very likeable and believable as Matilda.

Matilda’s parents, Mr and Mrs Wormwood, were played by the quite brilliant double act of Mikah Davies and Levi Cannon.  I came across Mikah last year as the coach in High School Musical, where he gave a very memorable performance, and this year was no different.  Definitely one to watch in years to come!  Opposite him, Levi was fantastic.  Her comic timing was superb and she had a great accent.  A really enjoyable pair of performances.

Scarlett Doyle was lovely as Miss Honey.  She was a calming influence in what, at times, is a very fast-paced musical and she had a very strong character with great energy.  She sang really well and held the audience’s attention in the musical numbers.

As the awful headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, Jack Jose did a good job.  He had a lot of character and held himself well throughout, doing a nice job in the musical numbers.    

It is very difficult to name every single named character, but I must pass on my congratulations to all named characters who all added something to this production.

Costumes were appropriate for the production and choreography was well delivered.

The singing, particularly in the ensemble, was a real strength in this production.  Well done everyone. 

As a director myself, I love to see what ideas other directors come up with and I saw something truly brilliant from this production’s director, Gillian Cummins.  The use of a white gauze with simple back lighting in the escapologist and acrobat sections was one of the best bits of imaginative theatre I’ve seen in a long time.  I may even pinch it myself one day!

I always enjoy my visits to Porth.  Everyone is very friendly and supportive.  It is also great to see the support given by the Headteacher and the wider staff for the Expressive Arts department.  Not every school is lucky to have this.  Well done, Porth Community School!  Thanks for a lovely evening!

 

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