Matilda, an award-winning London musical produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company, has arrived on Broadway to herald the expanded possibilities of children’s fables.

Brilliant, funny and edgy beyond expectations, Matilda brings new levels of imagination, darkness and depth in the family musical.

Those familiar with the macabre and quirky stories of the late British writer Roald Dahl might not be surprised. Like Dahl’s The Witches, James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matildablends humor with horror in a highly stylized refraction of reality that confronts mortality and the difficult challenges of an oppressive childhood.

Think a play like Matilda couldn’t possibly work for children? Matilda ultimately does.

Inventive scenes with swings or scooters reinforce the playfulness of the piece, while Minchin’s eclectic songs vary from the satirical to the wistful.

From the vast scenic design that piles up mounds of squares and alphabet tiles to the characterizations and lyrics, the deepest theme resonates and builds to a powerful conclusion about the power of storytelling and about our individual power to reshape the sometimes-tragic stories of our lives