Theatre critics concur the show is actually richer than Dahl's novel. It captures all the original's delicious nastiness, particularly in depicting Matilda's school, Crunchem Hall (motto: "children are maggots"), run by the fearsome Miss Trunchbull, but it also celebrates the solace of books and the transforming powers of the imagination.

The message, that you can control your own story, and rebellion and protest can defeat the bullies, is deeply embedded. Mind you, telekinetic powers help! But even so, when the tots rise up against Trunchbull it is as glorious a moment of rock'n'roll inspired self-determination as you'll ever see in the theatre. Like Matilda herself, the cleverness is evident in Kelly's nifty script, which never shirks the cruelty, or Matilda's feelings of rejection and loneliness, even as it offers children launched into outer space via their pigtails. It's also apparent in Minchin's witty lyrics and playful tunes, in Rob Howell's design with its piles of books and alphabet blocks, and in Matthew Warchus' production keeping things nicely on the boil without ever exhibiting signs of hyperactivity. The production has a razor-sharp tongue-in-cheek edge that cuts in at the slightest hint of  sweetness. Yet seldom has the inner rage of the hurt and powerless child been so effectively dramatised. Review found in The Guardian.