If you feel like you’ve been thrown in at the deep end at drama school during the choreographed chaos of the introduction, the moment Andrea Riseborough shows up as Matilda‘s reluctant mum-to-be, playing completely against type as a make-up caked, lycra-clad lady-of-luxury, you get an idea of the heightened tone that’s to follow.
Having said that his job and your enjoyment is made a darn sight easier by the levels of performance from the cast. For the rest of the audience who’re perhaps not in-tune, Dennis Kelly’s script has to work a little harder for you to look beyond the Britain’s Got Talent vibe and fully embrace the story. Well, if you’re a fan of Hard Knock Life style over-earnest musical performances then Matilda will be your tempo from the moment the theatrical opening number dials up the colour palette and performances to eleven. Will Tony Award-winning director Matthew Warchus’ big-screen adaptation achieve the same level of love, or will the audience reaction be so quiet that you could of heard a fly burp?
What makes this version of Matilda stand out like the smartest kid in the class is that this is Dahl’s beloved 1988 story filtered through the songs of Tim Minchin, and then transferred to the stage, resulting in a seemingly unanimous critical and commercial response. We’ve already had a muted Spielberg attempt at doing Dahl with The BFG, and that was followed by Robert Zemeckis’ hollow eyed take on The Witches, while Timothée Chalamet has been dancing along the Cornish coast in a top hat filming Chocolate Factory prequel Wonka. Matilda tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, dares to take a stand to change her story with miraculous results.Īre we now calling this the Roald Dahl Cinematic Universe? The opening titles seem to think so, giving Matilda an exciting new golden ticket logo to suggest that there’s more to come from the darkness flecked pages of the author’s uniquely marvellous world.
Starring Alisha Weir, Lashana Lynch, Emma Thompson, Andrea Riseborough, Stephen Graham, and Sindhu VeeĪn adaptation of the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical.
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