Explaining the story around Matilda

1. Rehearsal with Choreographer Write Up
My SMART target for this lesson was to make sure that I remembered my movements
throughout the session, and also focus on my spatial awareness so that I won’t bump into
other cast members. I also wanted to focus on my leadership, as in some sessions I don’t
speak up about my ideas enough and I feel they could be useful throughout each session.
Our piece is called ‘Revolting Children’ from Matilda the Musical, a musical based off of the
book from 1988 from Road Dahl. It’s about actual revolting children, who are going against
Trunchbull, their schools’ headmistress. It’s a more modern musical, not really being set in
any set year.
The theme of the musical is about family, and how important it is; throughout the musical, the
strong bond between Miss Honey and Matilda are evident, unlike Matilda’s actual family.
Also, opportunity is the main theme of Matilda as well, like the opportunity for the school kids
to fight back against injustice in the song ‘Revolting Children’. The musical is a book musical,
where musical numbers and dances are fully integrated into the show to create a narrative,
and is made up of three elements; music, dance and script.
Our characters in the piece ‘Revolting Children’ aren’t defined by titles and names, but we
have to have the attitudes of children trying to rebel and have fun. This means that
characterisation is a big part of the piece, since obviously our company aren’t children,
meaning that we have to play it off as if we were by using facial expressions, different
movement skills and our attitudes. For example, interaction with other characters is
important because children like to play and be silly with each other, a common interaction.
Also, we have to pull different faces and move a bit more sloppily and carefree, just like
children.
Before the piece, a girl named Matilda was born to a neglectful family, who are realising her
genius. On her first day of school, her teacher, Miss Honey, was impressed with her, but
principal Miss Trunchbull is the opposite. From her throwing a girl around by her pigtails, to
her locking people in the “chokey”, she is an extreme antagonist to the story. Miss Honey is
desperate to help Matilda get into the advanced class, but her parents are very uncaring.
Later, they are able to defeat the Trunchbull due to Matilda’s ability to move objects with her
mind, where she scares her by writing on the chalkboard with a floating chalk, which makes
the Trunchbull run away in fear. The children, being free from her for the first time, sing
‘Revolting Children’ proudly.
In this piece, a lot of dance and acting are involved; the characterisation of becoming
primary school children involves acting, while the choreography and movement are dance.
There is a lack of singing however, as the company personally doesn’t sing the entire song,
but dance along to a track of it. Some main skills are characterisation, pace, energy and
dynamics, stamina, and movement memory. In rehearsals, we mainly work on perfecting
these skills in order to create a distinction level showcase. We run through and polish the
dance multiple times in one lesson, and if there is something that we as a company feel
could be improved, or removed, then we work on it and smooth it out. The one thing that I
find most challenging is is focusing on blending both choreography and characterisation;
because I want to focus very heavily on improving my skills in movement and polish the

2. routine more and more, but I also need to improve my facial expressions and other
characterisation in order to captivate the audience properly, and convince them that they are
actually watching children who are revolting.
The relationships between the characters in this piece is that of proper children. Arguing and
having fun is a big part of playing these children characters. Doing silly tricks, and competing
with each other whilst mid-performance is the relationship between these characters.
Looking back on my SMART target, I think I achieved movement memory and spatial
awareness, the more physical aspect of things, but I still need to work on being more vocal
about my ideas and speaking up more about what I feel should be incorporated or improved
in the piece.