I’ve been fortunate enough to see countless musical theatre productions over the years, from local stages to the West End and Broadway, and now and then a performance comes along that reminds me exactly why I love musical theatre so much. Belfast School of Performing Arts (BSPA) delivered one of those performances with this year’s junior summer production of Matilda The Musical Jr. This was a show bursting with energy, talent, humour and, above all, an extraordinary amount of young talent.
Every year, BSPA stages both a junior and senior summer production. The junior production brings together performers aged from 5 to 16, while the senior production is aimed at performers aged 14 and over. Having watched the junior cast take to the stage, it is genuinely difficult to believe just how young many of these performers are.
Based on the beloved story by Roald Dahl, Matilda tells the story of Matilda Wormwood, an extraordinary young girl growing up in a family that neither understands nor appreciates her. While Matilda finds comfort and inspiration in books, her parents see reading as a waste of time and regard their daughter more as an inconvenience than a gift. Her father, Mr Wormwood, is far more interested in making money through his crooked used-car business, while her mother is consumed by appearances and dancing.
Things change when Matilda begins school and meets the kind and gentle Miss Honey. Unfortunately, the school is ruled by the terrifying Miss Trunchbull, a former athlete with a particular hatred of children. As Matilda discovers that she possesses extraordinary powers, she begins to realise that perhaps she can do something about the injustices around her. Along the way, the story reveals Miss Honey’s own tragic past and ultimately sees Matilda use her courage, intelligence and remarkable abilities to help set things right.
And what a cast BSPA assembled.
Maisie Armstrong takes on the enormous title role of Matilda, and at just 11 years old, she is nothing short of remarkable. Her performance was assured from beginning to end, delivering every line with clarity and confidence and producing note-perfect singing whenever she opened her mouth. Matilda has some seriously demanding musical numbers, and Maisie handled them with a maturity far beyond her years. She completely inhabited the character, capturing both Matilda’s vulnerability and her extraordinary determination.
My personal favourite performance, however, came from Fern Mellor as Mr Wormwood.
It is a tricky role to get right. Mr Wormwood needs to be unlikeable without becoming one-dimensional, and Fern found the humour in the character brilliantly. The facial expressions, comic timing and sheer commitment to the role were fantastic. Fern had the audience with her every time she appeared on stage, and Telly was a particular highlight.
Emma Fitzsimons brought warmth and compassion to the role of Miss Honey, while Abigail Reid embraced the larger-than-life character of Mrs Wormwood. Chloe Anderson thrived in her role as the Librarian, adding local humour and warmth to an already impressive ensemble.
Then there is Eliana Lamberton as Agatha Trunchbull.
At just 14 years old, Eliana has taken on a character that requires enormous presence, maturity and acting ability. Trunchbull is one of the great villains of musical theatre An intimidating, outrageous and demanding role and Eliana played her to perfection. She completely understood the character and commanded the stage whenever she appeared. It is hard to comprehend that someone so young can take on such a huge character with such confidence.
And that, perhaps, is the most impressive thing about this production.
These are children. Most of them are considerably younger than 16, and yet the standard of performance on stage was exceptionally high. The singing, acting, choreography, comic timing and confidence demonstrated throughout the show were testament not only to the young performers themselves but also to the work being done behind the scenes at BSPA.
BSPA is clearly producing performers of an incredibly high standard, and with many of its students going on to pursue professional careers in the performing arts, it is easy to see why. Productions such as this provide young performers with the opportunity to develop not only their technical abilities but also the confidence, discipline and stagecraft that can take them a long way.
It is also worth remembering that this production has another complete cast performing tonight. Having seen the standard of the first cast, I have every confidence that the second cast will deliver the same level of energy, enthusiasm and professionalism.
If you have never experienced a BSPA production before, Matilda The Musical Jr is a very good reason to change that.
There are only a handful of tickets remaining for today’s matinee, while this evening’s performance is already sold out. For any remaining availability check HERE
It’s Five stars from me and I’m very much looking forward to watching the seniors go for it next week with Hadestown – Tenn Edition. Tickets still available HERE
