Matilda Jr the Musical

A change of venue for Harlequin this year where they were presenting Matilda Jr at Stamperland Church in Clarkston. After seeing a previous concert here by the club, I must admit being a little worried for them about how they would stage a musical in the same Church setting.  Harlequin as always did not disappoint. They transformed the hall into an impressive stage area with wing space, performing area with ramped entrance centre stage. The hard work that went into the transformation paid off. They also utilised video screens within the Church to use digital backdrops to add to the set. The set itself was simple and very clever with cast moving the set pieces meaning all changes were seamless and echoed the spirit of the Matilda West End show. Touches like the swing and boxes were very well done. Congrats to the club and production team; David, Karen, Sarah, Ruth and Christine for this enormous achievement and allowing their cast to perform in such a wonderful space.

The junior version of this show condensed the full musical perfectly without loosing any of the magic or charm of the story which is so well know. It was lovely to see the younger audience members enthralled in the story they knew come to life. The characters were a great driver for this with Sophie Lawson capturing the bravery, warmth and mischievousness of the lead Matilda herself. She was committed throughout and kept the audience engaged throughout the journey of the show. Aaron Bastable as the mean bully Miss Truchbull was incredible. His characterisation through vocals, accent and physicality made it feel like watching the actors who tackle the part on the West End. I was completely blown away by such a mature well-rounded performance by 18 year old Aaron. Balancing the meanness of Miss Trunchbull was Greta Lawson’s Miss Honey. Greta brought a warm character to life with her soft accent and lovely vocals. The comedy in the show came from James Lawson (Mr Wormwood), Lara Sabharwal (Mrs Wormwood) and Rory Duncan (Michael Wormwood). All three managed to bring humour to the roles with line delivery and physicality. They worked well together as Matilda’s crazy family and made it hard to dislike them.  Aiding the Wormwoods was Michael Cameron’s Rudolpho who had the audience in stiches with his accent and dance moves. One of Matilda’s friends in the story Mrs Phelps the librarian was played by Maia Jenkins and the scenes with Maia and Sophie were lovely to watch. The main principals were supported with a talented cast of minor principals and ensemble all of whom looked like they were living their best life on stage and were giving it their all. The ensemble vocals in the songs and energy in the movement was impressive, especially in such a challenging performance space and the scene with the scooters racing through the hall up the ramp and around the stage was brilliant.

Another great success for Harlequin and delighted to see them back performing again.

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