![]() ![]() ![]() Aggie recognises several bits from the novels and particularly loves the way Polly Lister juggles the roles of school head Miss Cackle and her scheming evil twin Agatha. The story charts Mildred’s arrival as the only ordinary girl at the school and we see the witching world through her eyes as she makes friends with Maud (Rebecca Killick), takes her first lesson (“double potions”) and endeavours to fit in. Aggie and I have previously seen real school kids on stage, in Matilda and School of Rock, but the students here are all played by adults channelling their inner child. Rachel Heaton has “just the right hair” as stern deputy head Miss Hardbroom, her bun as tight as her smile Danielle Bird, as Mildred, rightly looks like she’d trip over her own pigtails Rosie Abraham has the fluttering lashes, pursed lips and disdainful demeanour of school snob Ethel Hallow and Megan Leigh Mason is suitably dynamic as gym mistress Miss Drill, first seen doing warm-up exercises in the aisle. She instantly identifies several characters before they’ve said a word. I’m here with my eight-year-old daughter, Aggie, who loves the Worst Witch books and the TV series. Polly Lister, centre, as Miss Cackle’s evil twin Agatha in The Worst Witch. It’s a clever concept because most of the audience will have firsthand experience of being involved in plays themselves, especially over the festive season. That’s partly because the show is framed as a school play written by Mildred and put on by the students and teachers at the academy (rated “fantastical” by Ofmag in such core subjects as charms and chanting, we’re told). The spells, the slo-mo action sequences, the song-and-dance routines, even the handmade glove-puppet cats, beg to be recreated at home. You could do all this yourself, it seems to continually suggest. One of the many joys about this new stage version for the over-sevens, created by Emma Reeves who also does the brilliant CBBC adaptation, is the way it empowers its young audience by sparking their imagination. Murphy’s books about Mildred have now sold more than 5m copies. J ill Murphy was 15 when she invented Mildred Hubble, the clumsy girl who is deemed the “worst witch” after she arrives by accident at Miss Cackle’s Academy.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |