"Matilda Jr" by The Young Performers Summer School

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

Here's a musical that I've not seen before so i was pleased when I was asked along to review The Young Performers' production of this Roald Dahl classic.

Rebellion is nigh in this gleefully witty ode to the anarchy of childhood and the power of imagination! This is a story of a girl who dreams of a better life and the children she inspires and has the audience rooting for the "revolting children" who are out to teach the grown-ups a lesson.

Matilda has astonishing wit, intelligence... and special powers! She's unloved by her cruel parents but impresses her schoolteacher, the loveable Miss Honey. Matilda's school life isn't completely smooth sailing, however – the school's mean headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, hates children and just loves thinking up new punishments for those who don't abide by her rules. But Matilda has courage and cleverness in equal amounts, and could be the school pupils' saving grace, as well as changing the life of Miss Honey!

It never fails to astound me the level of quality produced in such a short space of time that this large group had to pull everything together. They are the equivalent of human sponges, soaking up everything that they are taught. I have every respect for everyone on that stage for the quality, energy and professionalism.

There were a few stumbled lines but what impressed me was the way these young actors recovered and even helped each other out, especially when one character said the wrong character name, and the other actor corrected her; where it could have become an uncomfortable silence, it became an act of support for their fellow performer.

Avaani Babra was wonderful as our hero Matilda, and a lovely voice as well. Very confident and I hope we will see Avaani in future Young Performers shows in the future.

The nasty Mr Wormwood, Matilda's dad, was played with such ease and energy by Emily Wilkins, as to was Heidi Parsons, who played the self-obsessed Mrs Wormwood, who even had her own personal dance teacher in tow, Rudolpho, again played with great comedy overtones by Gracie Foster.

Ella Charlesworth fitted the character of the lovely Miss Honey well, as I know that she isn't as shy or reserved as the character she played, she displayed some lovely character acting.

James Pedrick, could well be the next big panto dame for Long Eaton as he played an absolute blinder as Miss Trunchbull, wonderfully sadistic, and it looks like he relished the character's nastiness and also playing such a deliciously evil part. No wonder he received a massive wave of applause in the final bows.

One scene from the film that always stuck with me was Bruce Bogtrotter's devouring of the famous chocolate cake, as a punishment by Miss Trunchbull. Playing the wonderful Bruce was Isobel Pickering.

I must also mention Alex Povey, as Nigel. When there is only a couple of young lads in a cast of many, many girls, I imagine that this can be a little overwhelming, but Alex made sure that he stood out with a brilliantly energetic performance.

A large cast of 25, they made sure that they filled the Duchess Theatre stage with energy and excitement, as well as irrepressible fun, and while I have only mentioned a few of the main characters, every single actor and singer on stage gave 110% tonight. This was also recognised by the packed theatre who showed their appreciation in a Tsunami of applause at the end.

A multi-faceted set created and built by Roydon Charlesworth. Simple but affective making parts of the set easily converted into several different scenes throughout and easy to handle and place on stage.

There were a few sound issues at the start but don't forget the size of this cast, I imagine you'd need to be an octopus to be able to make sure all mics were on when they should have been. That octopus was Harvey Tavener.

Lighting wise, I am not sure if the lighting spots may have been a bit out, or whether the actors didn't get to the right spots on stage but there were a few times when there was an empty spotlight with an actor just off from the spot and some lines were delivered in shade or darkness. Apart from that minor notice, the lighting design, by Dave Martin, was as exciting and colourful as the show itself

Packed with energetic dance numbers, choreographed by Vicky Byrne, and catchy songs, "Matilda Jr" is a joyous girl power romp. This is a musical for all age groups who will be thrilled and delighted by the story of the special little girl with an extraordinary imagination.

Directing this show I imagine would not have been an easy task, but Zak Charlesworth has pulled it out of the bag. No wonder he was relaxed when I spoke to him tonight, he had every faith in all of his performers, a faith that was returned with these performances.

"Matilda Jr" is at the Duchess Theatre until Saturday 11 September with tickets selling fast at just £10! If you don't get a ticket, you may just end up in Trunchbull's "chokey", and we wouldn't want that, now would we?