Matilda is one of my favourite shows, and from the moment the curtain opened to reveal fingers protruding from a sea of white tablecloths, to the final rousing chorus of ‘Revolting Children’, this production did not disappoint.

Many of the songs are complicated to perform, but the students of The Bay School were up to the challenge – the aforementioned fingers were replaced by characters popping up to deliver solo lines, gradually building into the chorus of ‘Miracle’ as tables seemed to melt away to allow the chorus of parents to join in: choreography (of dancing and stagehands) appeared effortless and the audience were carried away by the ensemble singing which dramatically broke to bring forward the main character, Matilda, whose plaintiff solo about her parents’ view of her gave a bleak contrast to the main song. It was clear that a huge amount of hard work had gone into delivering such a powerful song with apparent ease.

And that was just the start! We were then introduced to the Wormwood family, who were a horrific delight. Madison as Mr Wormwood just oozed sleazy businessman, talking on an old-style mobile, plotting how to cheat customers – and the reaction to his green hair and stuck-on hat were hilarious! Macey portrayed Mrs Wormwood’s garish personality and taste beautifully, and I loved the scene with Rudolpho – a cameo performance from Ruby who as well as being very funny proved she had the dance moves too! Michael Wormwood is also a small role which Cadey made her own, delivering her lines with natural comic flair.

Throughout the show, Mary was a perfect Matilda: she joined the ensemble singing but her lovely voice really came into its own in ‘Naughty’, as she plotted those tricks on her father. Mary made Matilda engaging: highly intelligent, on the side of good, yet able to be naughty, without being precocious – a feat for a young actor – and we really wanted her to triumph over both her family and Miss Trunchbull – of whom more later.

Having established the family background, we moved to Matilda’s school and another blockbuster – ‘School Song’ was again delivered with verve, enthusiasm and great choreography as the older students ‘welcomed’ the new kids into school with dire warnings of dreadful things to happen…..

All of which were about to be realised as Miss Trunchbull strode on and dominated the stage. Ember was terrifyingly brilliant as Miss Trunchbull, from her boots and mac to her evil eye, to her habit of throwing children across the room by their plaits and threatening to send them to Chokey. I can see why the children were scared of her – I think I was!!

A perfect foil to the villainous Trunchbull was Miss Honey, who takes Matilda under her wing, recognising her talents. Charlotte’s talent really brought out not only her kindness but her underlying passiveness. Charlotte also has a beautiful pure soprano voice which she used to great effect.

Another great singer and dancer was Isobel who played Bruce – from the humour of the cake-eating scene (and burp) to leading the chorus of ‘Revolting Children’, her talent is clear. Scarlett as Lavendar, Lillie-Jayne (the evening I went) as Amanda and Lily as Nigel were also well-cast in their small but very important roles.

Other characters also supported the story very well – Grey as the sympathetic librarian encouraging Matilda’s imagination as she told the story that turned out to be Miss Honey’s; Amy and Daisy as the Acrobat (with amazing moves) and Escapologist along with Harriet as the young Miss Honey illustrated the story to perfection; the Russians were onstage briefly but made their mark, especially Aydin, and a special mention must be made of Rosie who as the Cook delivered Bruce’s cake with a wonderfully unhygienic comic turn that is a lesson in how to give a memorable performance without saying a word!

I would love to mention each and every one of the wonderful cast of Matilda by name, because they were all fabulous – I also loved ‘When I Grow Up’…in fact I loved the whole show, and as so often, whatever the talents – and there were plenty – in the main cast of characters, it was the ensemble that really made the show. As well as, of course, the people working backstage: the setting changed frequently, but the use of 4 large moveable flats, some stage blocks, a projected screen on the back wall and well rehearsed slick changes, the action was fast paced and seamless – well done to all concerned. Lighting, sound and projection worked really well, and I understand that these jobs – as well as painting the sets – were mainly undertaken by the students, so well done again.

The final person to be hugely applauded is Mrs Creggwood: it is not easy to encourage such a large number of students to give up their time to be in a school production, let alone to enthuse and direct them to bring out the very best of their talents, but shehas done that in spades. It was great to see a packed hall watching the show on Friday – the sheer hard work, talent and enthusiasm shown by everyone involved in this amazing show fully deserves the rousing applause they received. Matilda was a triumph!!