Review Roundup: THE WITCHES Opens at The National Theatre

Roald Dahl's The Witches has officially opened at The National Theatre.

Katherine Kingsley leads as the Grand High Witch, with Daniel Rigby as hotel manager Mr. Stringer and Sally Ann Triplett as Gran. Playing the witches are Julie Armstrong, Chrissie Bhima, Zoe Birkett, Maddison Bulleyment, Miracle Chance, Daniele Coombe, Molly-May Gardiner, Tiffany Graves, Bobbie Little, Tania Mathurin, Amira Matthews and Alexandra Waite-Roberts. Playing Luke’s parents are Laura Medforth as Mum and Richard David-Caine as Dad, playing Bruno’s parents are Ekow Quartey as Mr. Jenkins and Maggie Service as Mrs. Jenkins, and playing Chef Chevalier at Hotel Magnificent is Irvine Iqbal. Completing the team at Hotel Magnificent are Adrian Grove, Jacob Maynard and Ben Redfern.

The cast playing Luke includes BERTIE Caplan, Frankie Keita and Vishal Soni. Playing Bruno are Cian Eagle-Service, George Menezes Cutts and William Skinner.

The ensemble includes Jersey Blu Georgia, Asanda Abbie Masike, Chloe Raphael, Nesim Adnan, Alaia Broadbent, Chenai Broadbent, Cristian Buttaci, Sekhani Dumezweni, Rudy Gibson, Florence Gore, Elara Jagger, Annabelle Jones, Jemima Loosen, Charlie Man-Evans, Iesa Miller, Jack Philpott, Sienna Sibley, Savannah Skinner-Henry, Poppy-Mei Soon, Benjamin Spalding, Dylan Trigger, Alice Valeriano, Sasha Watson-Lobo and Stella Yeoman.

Everything you know about witches is wrong. Forget the pointy hats and broomsticks: they’re the most dangerous creatures on earth.

And now they’ve come up with their most evil plan yet.

The only thing standing in their way is Luke and his Gran. But he’s ten and she’s got a dodgy heart. Time is short, danger is everywhere, and they’ve got just one chance to stop the witches from squalloping every stinking little child in England.

The Witches is a rip-roaring musical version of Roald Dahl’s timeless tale, filled with wit, daring and heart. With book and lyrics by Olivier Award-winner Lucy Kirkwood, music and lyrics by Tony Award-nominee Dave Malloy, and directed by Lyndsey Turner.

See what the critics are saying...

Aliya Al-Hassan, BroadwayWorld: Lucy Kirkwood (book and lyrics) and Dave Malloy (music and lyrics) make a remarkable duo with huge wit and warmth, capturing the magic of Dahl's writing, without dumbing down the darkness. One slightly unwelcome theme is the repetition of certain words or phrases at the end of many of the songs; over and over again. The length, at nearly three hours including interval, may be a bit of a stretch for younger audience members and a few sections of the second half meander a little. However, most of the production whips by in a stream of pure entertainment. Inevitable comparisons will be made with the juggernaut that is Matilda The Musical. While this show is not quite at that point, it is certainly snapping at Matilda's heels.

Marianka Swain, London Theatre: There are some pointed lessons in here: the other guests wrongly mistreat Gran just because she’s different (and foreign). Kirkwood also reverses some of Dahl’s own dubious messaging – yes, the witches are bald, but so is the heroic Gran. The show bravely keeps Dahl’s ending, but makes it a life-affirming battle cry. Seize the moment – and seize tickets to this total triumph of a show.

Arifa Akbar, The Guardian: If the script channels Dahl’s linguistic agility and imagination, it cleans up his darkness. The witches are more comical than abominable and there is a lo-fi cutesiness to the children’s transformations into inanimate objects (they pop sweetly out of boxes in cardboard costumes). The biggest fright comes when a phone rings in the auditorium and the High Witch loses it.

Nick Curtis, The Standard: Designer Lizzie Clachan gives us overarching talons, nightmare fantasies and box-of-tricks physical sets, but the show’s muted colour palette gets a bit boring. Standout songs include Luke’s Ready to Go, the Grand Witch’s insinuating hymn to childlessness Wouldn’t It Be Nice, Gran’s When I Was Young and the irresistible clap-along Get up, sung by Helga (Jersey Blu Georgia on opening night) and the younger cast members. There are occasional lacunae here but this is a polished, witty, crisply sardonic serving of Dahl. And if the other child actors sharing the central roles are as good as the ones I saw, they deserve all the plaudits.

Andrzej Lukowski, TimeOut London: Sure, it’s notionally aimed at families. But the National Theatre’s Roald Dahl adaptation ‘The Witches’ really is for everyone, (everyone over eight anyway). Because it’s quite easily the funniest new musical London has seen since at least ‘The Book of Mormon’.

Fiona Mountford, iNews: And Triplett is convincing as idiosyncratic Gran, gruff but warm in equal measure. Meanwhile, Daniel Rigby is the frantic hotel manager who turns the Magnificent, in its riot of red and pink colouring, into a cross between Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel and Fawlty Towers. There is a decent amount to work on here – but also much to admire.

Houman Barekat, The New York Times: A charming and spirited musical adaptation of Dahl’s much-loved book — written by Lucy Kirkwood and directed by Lyndsey Turner — opened this month at the National Theater, in London, running through Jan. 27, 2024. It’s a deftly rendered production, a high-quality piece of family entertainment that skilfully blends the playful and the macabre, and does justice to the author’s distinct comic style.

Average Rating: 85.7%

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