Matilda the Musical, Mayflower Theatre, Southampton: Review

Just some of the insults hurled at poor Matlida in Roald Dahl’s tale about a downtrodden, unloved little girl who loses herself in books - much to her rotten parents’ dismay. Matilda is a favourite in our household with all of us having read it as children and loved watching the film as a family.

But how would it translate onto the stage? The answer is, in the hands of the RSC it was magnificent.

A rip-roaring ride true to Dahls’s potty imagination with brilliant sets, fantastic songs and music, and a cast that is second to none.

Freya Scott as Matilda was spellbinding. I didn’t know it was possible for someone that tiny to fill the stage with a performance so big you’d think she’d been acting for decades.

The grown-ups were ace too, particularly Elliot Harper who stalked the stage as Miss Trunchbull – terrifying and hilarious all at once. But it was the kids who stole the show.

They were incredible – they didn’t miss a beat. Excellent comic timing, wonderful voices and boy can they dance – even flinging themselves from a trampette over a vaulting box in one scene.

Chantelle Tonolete as Lavender had us howling with laughter.

It is no surprise it’s won countless awards across the globe.

Matilda the musical, like the book, is unforgettable.

On until July 6.