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The Writers’ Challenge
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The Writers’ Challenge
This website will give you an insight into the creative challenges
faced by Dennis Kelly as writer and Tim Minchin as composer and
lyricist when adapting Roald Dahl’s novel Matilda into a musical.
The RSC is setting students a similar task, by asking them to create
either a scene or song or a scene with a song in it for a new character
who is introduced to us on the first day of term at Crunchem Hall. The
scene should contain no more than four speaking characters.
We have created a web page for each of the steps that we feel
are essential in creating a good scene or song, they are:
• Create a believable Character
• Plan a strong Plot – including an Inspiration Gallery
• Develop Music and Lyrics
• Write the Dialogue
• Rewriting what has been written and then Rehearsing it
To make the most of this resource, we suggest that you work
through these pages in this order with your students.
By watching the ‘The Writers’ Challenge’ films in class, your students will
have heard how Dennis and Tim started to create Matilda The Musical. They
talk about what was exciting for them and their concerns about adapting
such a well-known book for the stage. Dennis talks about how the script had
to be condensed, order changed, new characters created and songs added
whilst all the time they staying true to the essence of Roald Dahl’s novel.
Before students can start creating the characters and plots for their scripts
they will need to understand the different narratives of Matilda the novel
and Matilda The Musical. For those students who know the story of Matilda
and have read the book or (seen the film) you could start by showing and
playing with the plot structure application on the ‘The Writers’ Challenge’
page of the site. Students can see for themselves the changes that have
been made and then move onto trying out the exercises in this pack.
For students who don’t know the story, we suggest you try out
some of these exercises first so students have a good understand
of the characters and plots in both the novel and musical.
These resources have been designed to work alongside the website
but can also act as stand-alone activities that can be adapted to other
forms of introducing stories and writing in your school curriculum.
Write Here, Write Now with Matilda: The Writers’ Challenge
Introduction
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Before you start : knowing the story
1. Meet the Characters
Making the Characters Come Alive
Through this exercise students will very quickly meet and build up
physical images of the characters as described in the novel
2. Telling the Stories
Matilda in 20 minutes
These mini performance exercises will give students an understanding
of the two different plot structures of the novel and the musical
Write Here, Write Now with Matilda: The Writers’ Challenge
Introduction
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Making The Characters Come Alive
Purpose of the activity:
Through basic drama exercises, students will start to understand
how different characters move, walk and talk. They will also
become aware of the three-dimensional quality of Dahl’s characters
and the level of detailed description used in his novel.
You will need:
• A hall or classroom with chairs and tables to one side
• 6 copies of the character descriptions (see next page),
cut up into individual character sections
How it works:
Ask students to walk around the room, walking into and filling any spaces
that appear. Explain that as they are walking you will call out different
parts of the body (nose, head, tummy, feet etc) and when you do, they
will have to lead with that part of their body. If they are walking with
their head leading them, how does it make them move – quickly? Is their
body jerky or smooth? Are they leaning forward? How do their eyes
move? Ask what type of person might move like this – are they nervous?
Confident? Friendly? Suspicious? What do they do for a living?
Ask students to think of a short line of a nursery rhyme that they know and
repeat the line out loud as they continue to move in a voice that their character
might use. Is it a high voice? Or deep? Do they speak fast? Slow? etc.
Repeat for each body part you call out so students have
experienced creating and walking as different characters.
Now ask students to find a space on their own in the room and listen as you
read a description for a character from Matilda. As they are listening, ask
students to move their bodies so they physically start to become that character,
thinking about how that character walks, which body part they will lead
with and so on. As this character, ask students to start moving around the
room. At any time you can call out ‘freeze’, walk up to an individual and ask
them to tell you what they are thinking or what they’re wearing, and so on.
Split students into groups of five and give each group a description of one of
the characters from the character sheet below. They have four minutes to make
a still image of this character using all the members of the group and adding
in their spoken line of dialogue which can be said together or as individuals.
Write Here, Write Now with Matilda: The Writers’ Challenge
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Character Sheet
Taken from Matilda by Roald Dahl © [pub. Puffin 2001]
Matilda – “You mustn’t let a little thing like little stop you”
‘Extra-ordinary, sensitive and brilliant – her mind was so nimble and she
was so quick to learn. By the time she was three, she had taught herself to
read by studying newspapers and magazines that lay around the house.’
Mr Wormwood – “If you knew the deal I’m
pulling off at work, you’d soon see clever…”
‘A small ratty-looking man whose front teeth stuck out underneath a thin
ratty moustache. He liked to wear jackets with large brightly coloured
checks and he sported ties that were usually yellow or pale green. Gormless
and wrapped up in his own silly little life; he is a dealer in second-hand cars
who does pretty well at it although he has some very dishonest tactics.’
Mrs Wormwood – “Looks is more important than books”
‘A large woman whose hair was dyed platinum blonde except where you
could see the mousy-brown bits growing out from the roots. She wore heavy
make-up and she had one of those unfortunate bulging figures where the flesh
appears to be strapped in all around the body to prevent it from falling out.
She is glued to the TV screen most of the time which leaves her so exhausted
both physically and emotionally that she never has enough energy to cook an
evening meal so she usually gave her family TV dinners or fish and chips.’
Miss Honey – “Bad times don’t last forever”
‘Not more than twenty-three or twenty-four. She had a lovely pale oval
Madonna face with blue eyes and her hair was light-brown. Her body was
so slim and fragile one got the feeling that if she fell over she would smash
into a thousand pieces, like a porcelain figure. A mild and quiet person who
never raised her voice and was seldom seen to smile, but there is no doubt she
possessed that rare gift for being adored by every small child under her care.
Some curious warmth that was almost tangible shone out of Miss Honey’s
face when she spoke to a confused and homesick newcomer to the class.’
Miss Trunchbull – “Children are maggots!”
‘A formidable middle-aged lady. A gigantic holy terror, a fierce tyrannical
monster who frightened the life out of pupils and teachers alike. She
had an obstinate chin, a cruel mouth and small arrogant eyes. When
she marched – Miss Trunchbull never walked, she always marched
like a storm-trooper with long strides and arms aswinging – when she
marched along a corridor you could actually hear her snorting as she
went. She had once been a famous athlete, and even now the muscles
were still clearly in evidence. There was an aura of menace about her
even at a distance, and when she came up close you could almost feel the
dangerous heat radiating from her as from a red-hot rod of metal.’
Write Here, Write Now with Matilda: The Writers’ Challenge
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Telling the Stories
There are three 20 minutes versions of the Matilda story in this pack.
One for the novel and two for the musical. The shorter musical version
can be used quickly in class while the longer one can be developed
with your group if you want to perform it in front of other students.
Purpose of the activity:
Creating a condensed version of any text is a quick and memorable way for
students to get to know the plot. By performing the contrasting versions of the
novel and musical, students will be able understand clearly the different plot
structures, where the songs are and what has been changed for performance.
What you will need:
• A hall or classroom with chairs and tables to one side
• Copies of the 20 minute plays
How it works
Ask the whole group stand in a circle and split them into groups of four/five,
telling each group they will be given one or more scenes to perform. Assign
the numbered scenes around the groups until all have been allocated.
Explain that you will be speaking the narration for all the scenes, but
they must act out all the narration for their assigned scenes as well
as speak and act out the dialogue (in bold). Tell them that the first
word of narration that you speak for their scene(s) is the cue for their
entrance into the centre of the circle which forms the playing area.
Give the groups 10 to 15 minutes to rehearse and then call the group
into the circle, arranging them in the order in which they will perform.
When students become more confident, you can hand the narration
over to the groups to either speak together or as individuals.
Write Here, Write Now with Matilda: The Writers’ Challenge
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Matilda the Novel in 20 Minutes
1.
Most parents think their children are wonderful, even when they’re quite
ordinary. The Wormwoods are just the opposite. Their daughter, Matilda, is
extraordinary but her parents are so silly, so ‘gormless,’ they don’t even
notice how special she is. They’re just annoyed by her READING!
Matilda:
‘Daddy, do you think you could buy me a book?
Mr. Wormwood:
A book? What d’you want a flaming book for? What’s wrong with the telly?
2.
While Mrs. Wormwood goes to play bingo every afternoon Matilda
takes herself off to the Public Library where Mrs. Phelps, the
Librarian, helps her to choose some grown-up books to read.
Matilda:
I loved Great Expectations. Has Mr. Dickens written any others?
Mrs. Phelps:
A great number. Did you know that public libraries allow
you to borrow books and take them home?
And so Matilda borrows piles of books and as she reads them in her
bedroom she travels the world in her powerful imagination.
3.
Aside from her books Matilda finds her home life very difficult. Her father runs
a dodgy car business and she hates his cheating. Her parents watch telly, even
during dinner, and won’t let her read instead. That call her names and she
gets really angry about all these injustices and, to help herself feel better, she
sneaks into the hallway, reaches on tiptoe to lift her father’s hat off the rack,
and puts superglue all around the inside rim. The trick works wonderfully –
Mr. Wormwood tries all day to get his hat off. By nighttime he still can’t.
Mrs. Wormwood:
Come here, I’ll take it off for you. (She gives the hat a sharp yank.)
Mr. Wormwood:
Ow-w-w! Don’t do that! Let go! You’ll take half the skin off my forehead.
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In the next chapters more tricks follow, including putting a Ghostly Parrot up
the chimney to scare her parents and turning My Wormwood’s Hair Green.
4.
When she’s five and a half, Matilda goes to Crunchem Hall Primary School. The
headmistress is a huge, fierce, bullying woman called Miss Trunchbull. She has
thrown the hammer for England and hates children. She uses them to practice
her hammer throwing skills on. Matilda is in the bottom class and Miss Honey
is her teacher. Miss Honey soon discovers that Matilda is a very unusual child.
Miss Honey:
What is two times four hundred and eighty-seven?
Matilda (immediately):
Nine hundred and seventy-four.
Miss Honey:
This is a book of humorous poetry. See if you can read that one aloud.
Matilda (smoothly):
‘An epicure dining at Crewe
Found a rather large mouse in his stew.
Cried the waiter, “Don’t shout
And wave it about
Or the rest will be wanting one too.”’
5.
Now Miss Honey, who is a kind and wonderful teacher, knows she must see
that Matilda moves up to the highest class where she can really learn. First
she goes to see Miss Trunchbull who simply shouts and stomps and waves
her arms and calls Matilda all sorts of names, like ‘little viper,’ and ‘beast’ and
‘parrot’ and ‘gangster.’ So Miss Honey decides she’ll get help from Matilda’s
parents and goes to their house. As you can imagine, she gets no joy there!
Mr. Wormwood:
We don’t hold with book-reading. We don’t keep them in the house.
Mrs. Wormwood:
Looks is more important than books, Miss Hunky.’
Miss Honey:
Do not despise clever people, Mr Wormwood.
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6.
Matilda has a new best friend, called Lavender. At breaktime they meet
Hortensia, one of the older students. She tells them about Miss Trunchbull’s
worst punishment, The Chokey. She shows them how high and how narrow it
is and that it has ‘thousands of sharp spiky nails sticking out of it.’ Hortensia
has spent two whole days in the Chokey, once for putting itching powder
in Miss Trunchbull’s gym shorts. Suddenly Miss Trunchbull enters the
playground and marches up to a tiny girl in pigtails called Amanda (Miss
Trunchbull hates pigtails). She lifts Amanda up by her pigtails and, swinging
her round and round several times, hurls her into the great beyond.
Miss Trunchbull:
Not bad, considering I’m not in strict training.
Hortensia:
She’s mad.
Matilda:
But don’t the parents complain?
Hortensia:
They’re all scared to death of her, too.
7.
The very next day a boy called Bruce Bogtrotter falls victim to Miss Trunchbull’s
bullying madness. He has eaten a slice of Miss Trunchbull’s private, personal
chocolate cake and she KNOWS he has. Cook is ordered to bring in the
most enormous chocolate cake you’ve ever seen and Bruce is made to eat
every scrap of it while Miss Trunchbull stands over him. She’s so angry he’s
managed to do it that she brings the cake platter down on his head afterwards.
The Children (cheering and clapping):
Well done, Brucie! Good for you, Brucie!
Miss Trunchbull
(screaming and bringing the cake platter down on Bruce’s head):
GO TO BLAZES!
8.
Lavender wants to be noticed, the way Matilda and Bruce have been and she
also wants to pay Miss Trunchbull back for all her bullying. She goes to a pond
and finds a newt. She puts the newt in her pencil case and brings it to school.
She puts the newt in the water pitcher Miss Trunchbull will use when she teaches
Miss Honey’s class for one lesson on Thursday. Meantime, Miss Trunchbull has
found her next victim – little Nigel. Because he has dirty hands, Nigel has to
stand on one leg facing the corner and spell long words and do his times tables.
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Eric’s turn is next. Eric isn’t as good a speller as Nigel and he misspells ‘what.’
Miss Trunchbull raises him above her head by his ears and holds him there.
Miss Honey:
Let him go, Miss Trunchbull, please!
Miss Trunchbull:
The word ‘what’ is spelled W … H … A … T. Now spell it, you little wart!
Eric (screeching):
W … H … A … T spells what!
9.
In the same lesson Miss Truchbull meets her match in Matilda. She accuses
Matilda of lying when Matilda tells her she’s read a book by Charles
Dickens called Nicholas Nickleby. Miss Trunchbull adds that her father’s
a crook and Matilda is also a crook. To top it all, when she pours a glass
of water and the newt falls into the glass, Miss Trunchbull blames Matilda.
They have a big stand-up shouting row and then, using a huge amount
of energy, Matilda performs a miracle. She uses her anger to make the
glass tip over so that the newt falls onto Miss Trunchbull’s dress!
Matilda (whispering):
Tip it! Tip it over!
Miss Trunchbull (screaming and dancing around the room):
Who did it? (To Matilda) ‘Speak up, you clotted carbuncle!’
Admit that you did it!
Matilda:
I have not moved away from my desk, Miss Trunchbull. I can say no more.
10.
When Matilda tells Miss Honey very privately that she has forced the
glass to tip over, Miss Honey invites her to her house for tea, in order
to hear more about the magic miracle. Matilda is amazed by Miss
Honey’s cottage: her teacher must be very poor. They sit on crates to
eat and Miss Honey doesn’t eat supper at all, giving the two pieces of
bread to Matilda. Miss Honey tells her secret to her special pupil:
Miss Honey:
My mother died when I was two and my aunt moved
in. When I was five my father died very suddenly.
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Matilda:
What happened when you were left all alone with
the aunt? Wasn’t she nice to you?
Miss Honey:
Nice? She was a demon. My life was a nightmare. When I finally got my
teacher’s job, my aunt told me I owed her a lot of money for feeding me all
those years. She gives me one pound a week pocket money and keeps the rest.
11.
Matilda thinks hard about Miss Honey’s story and makes a plan. She knows
now that Miss Honey’s father was called Magnus and that Miss Trunchbull is
called Agatha. At home she practices making her father’s cigar move by magic.
Matilda:
I can really do it! I can pick the cigar up just with my eyepower and push it and pull it in the air any way I want!
12.
The next day Miss Trunchbull takes Miss Honey’s class again. She
begins by tormenting Wilfred by telling him to do his three times
table – backwards! Then something amazing happens.
Wilfred:
Backwards? But I haven’t learnt it backwards.
Miss Trunchbull:
You blithering idiot! You festering gumboil! You fleabitten fungus!
Nigel (leaping to his feet and shouting):
The chalk! Look at the chalk! it’s moving all on its own! (Reading as
the chalk writes) It’s saying, ‘Agatha, this is Magnus. It is Magnus
and you’d better believe it. Agatha, give my Jenny back her house,
then get out of here or I will come and get you like you got me.’
13.
Well, Miss Truchbull faints dead away. All the children stand and stare
at her with their mouths open. Kind Miss Honey rushes to help her,
and Nigel grabs the jug of water and pours it over her head. Everyone
smiles. Other teachers rush in and carry Miss Trunchbull out.
Miss Honey (to the children):
I think you’d all better go out to the playground. (She wipes the
writing from the blackboard and all the children but Matilda
leave. Then she walks over to Matilda and hugs her.)
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14.
And that is the last that anyone hears of Miss Trunchbull. She completely
disappears. The solicitors phone Miss Honey and tell her that her
father’s proper will has been found and he has left his house and all
his money to her. Mr Trilby (old deputy head) becomes Head Teacher
and Matilda is moved into the top form, Miss Plimsoll’s class. Matilda’s
special powers stop happening and every afternoon Matilda goes to
Miss Honey’s for tea and they talk and talk about everything.
Matilda:
Did you know that the heart of a mouse beats at the
rate of six hundred and fifty times a minute?
Miss Honey:
I did not. How absolutely fascinating. Where did you read that?
15.
One day Matilda goes home from Miss Honey’s and finds her parents
packing frantically. They are going to Spain, never to return, because
Mr. Wormwood is in trouble with the law over his dodgy car business.
They order Matilda to pack her things. Matilda runs at full speed to Miss
Honey’s and brings her back to her house with her. Matilda has a better
plan for herself, which she’s almost got Miss Honey to agree to.
Miss Honey:
I would love to have Matilda. I would look after her with loving
care, Mr. Wormwood, and I would pay for everything. But I will
not agree to take her without your full and willing consent.
Mr. Wormwood:
I’m in a hurry. If she wants to stay, let her stay.
(The Wormwoods rush off, forgetting even to wave goodbye to
their daughter while Miss Honey and Matilda hug each other.)
THE END
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Matilda The Musical in 20 minutes
1.
Most parents think their own children are miracles, the most wonderful
creatures ever put on earth. Well, there was one family where this was
definitely not the case. Mrs. Wormwood, nine months pregnant, wants
more than anything to dance in a certain competition. She does NOT want
another baby. Her husband, Mr. Wormwood, doesn’t much care, but if
there is going to be another baby, it has to be a boy. The doctor who is
delivering the beautiful new girl, Matilda, can’t believe these parents!
Doctor:
This is one of the most beautiful children that I’ve ever seen!
Mr. Wormwood:
Looks like a prune. You need glasses!
Mrs. Wormwood:
This is the worst day of my life.
2.
Five years later the Wormwoods are horrified
that Matilda loves, of all things, books!
Mrs. Wormwood:
Five years old and she’s reading. That’s not normal – the child is clearly an idiot.
Matilda:
Listen to this – ‘It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times, it was an age of wisdom…’
3.
Matilda, as you might imagine, loves to go to the library. Here
she is, sitting on the floor, looking through some books. Mrs.
Phelps, the librarian, greets her happily and asks her to tell her a
story. Matilda has a powerful imagination, as you will see.
Matilda:
Once upon a time…
Mrs. Phelps squeals with delight and puts a ‘Closed’ sign up on the library door.
Matilda:
Once upon a time the two greatest circus performers in the
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world fell in love and got married. But though they loved each
other, they were sad. ‘We do not have a child,’ they said.
To fill their loneliness they decided to perform a very daring act. It was called:
the Burning Woman Hurling Through The Air With Dynamite In Her Hair
Over Sharks And Spiky Objects, Caught By The Man Locked In The Safe.
4.
It’s the first day of school. The New Kids skip up to the
gates, full of hope and confidence. Just as they reach the
main gate the Big Kids rush out, terrifying them.
Big Kids: (singing or chanting):
You listen here, my dear, you’ll be punished so severely if you
Step out of line and if you cry it will be double,
You should stay out of trouble,
And remember to be extremely careful.
Nigel:
Why?
5.
‘Why’ becomes clear very soon. A loud ‘hurump’ is heard through
the school speaker system. The Big Kids freeze and then so do the
New Kids. Agatha Trunchbull, the headmistress, speaks:
Trunchbull (fiercely):
WHAT. IS. THE SCHOOL. MOTTO.
Big Kids:
‘Bambinatum est Maggitum,’ Miss Trunchbull.
Trunchbull:
‘Bambinatum est Maggitum.’ ‘Children are maggots.’ Back to work,maggots.
6.
The New Kids are in class. Miss Honey, gentle, kind and loving
Miss Honey, is their teacher. On the first day she discovers that
Matilda, five years old, is a very special child, a kind of genius:
Matilda:
One times two is two, two times two is four, seven times
two is fourteen, twelve times two is twenty-four.
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Miss Honey (amazed):
Now this is much harder, so don’t worry if you don’t get
it, but two times four hundred and eighty seven…
Matilda (immediately):
Nine hundred and seventy-four.
7.
Back at the Wormwoods’ house, Mr. Wormwood is in a very bad mood. He
makes his living selling dodgy cars. The Russians who were supposed to be
buying a whole load of dodgy cars and making him rich have caught him at it.
In a fit of temper he blames it all on Matilda, who is reading as usual. Matilda
is a brave person who doesn’t like injustice. She plays a trick on her father.
Mr. Wormwood:
Here’s what I think of your book! (He rips it up.)
Matilda silently gathers up the pieces of the torn book, then goes into the hall
and puts superglue inside her father’s hat. To the audience she sings or chants :
Matilda:
Just because you find that life’s not fair, it
Doesn’t mean that you just have to grin and bear it.
8.
Back at school Matilda hears about the worst punishment of all – the
terrible CHOKEY! The Big Kids tell the New Kids all about it:
Big Kids (singing the chokey chant):
There’s a place you are sent
If you haven’t been good
And it’s made of spikes and wood.
9.
Matilda escapes her school and home troubles by going to the library.
She is telling Mrs. Phelps the next part of her story about the Acrobat
and her husband, the Escapologist. Matilda acts out all the parts.
Escapologist:
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, ‘The Burning
Woman Hurling through the Air with Dynamite’ has been
cancelled – cancelled because my wife is … pregnant.
The Acrobat’s Wicked Sister (producing a paper contract):
A contract you have signed to perform this feat, and perform you shall!
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Mrs. Phelps:
No, no! What happened next?
Matilda:
I don’t know yet. I’ll tell you tomorrow.
10.
Back at school there’s more trouble. The Trunchbull (as she is called) is viciously
punishing Bruce Bogtrotter for stealing a slice of her personal chocolate
cake. As his first punishment Bruce is forced to eat the biggest chocolate cake
imaginable – all of it, all by himself. Then she drags him off to the Chokey!
Trunchbull (to Bruce):
EAT!
Matilda:
Go on Bruce!
(Bruce, with great difficulty, manages to eat the cake).
Trunchbull:
That was the first part of your punishment. And the second part is…Chokey!
11.
In the library Mrs. Phelps waits anxiously for the end of Matilda’s
story. The acrobat hugs her husband and comforts him before
they perform the most dangerous act of all time.
Matilda: (acting out the story herself as far as possible):
The crowd held their breath as she hurled over the sharks and spiky objects.
Mrs. Phelps:
Oh, I can’t look!
Matilda:
The Escapologist reached out one huge, muscled arm to catch his wife.But
suddenly their hands became slippy …and she fell. She broke every bone
in her body, but lived long enough to have their child. And then she died.
3.
When Mr. Wormwood tells Matilda she is forbidden to go to the library
any more, she’s terribly upset. To comfort herself she tells herself the
next part of her story. It’s so real to her that the characters actually
appear. The wicked aunt has thrown the Escapologist’s little girl, now
about Matilda’s age, into a dark cellar and locked the door. Suddenly
there’s a banging on the door and the Escapologist bursts in. He puts
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his arms around both girls and they fall asleep from exhaustion. Then
the Escapologist makes a promise to his sleeping daughter:
Escapologist:
This demon, this villain, this monster. Bullying children is her
game, is it? Then let us see what this creature thinks she can
do when the wrath of a grown man stands before her!
Matilda:
And that was the last the little girl ever saw of her father.
Because he never ever came home. Ever again.
13.
Miss Honey invites Matilda to her very simple home. They sit on the floor and
have tea and then Miss Honey tells Matilda her story – which will remind you
of another one you’ve heard. By some special magic, Matilda’s story is Miss
Honey’s story and the Acrobat and the Escapologist were Miss Honey’s parents!
Miss Honey:
My father was a wonderful man called Magnus. But unfortunately
he died when I was very young… in suspicious circumstances.
And I was left with my aunt; she was a terror!
Matilda:
Who is your aunt?
Miss Honey:
You know her, Matilda. My aunt is —
Both together:
Miss Trunchbull.
14.
And the very same Miss Trunchbull is on the attack again, threatening
to put children in the Chokey. But this time the children are fighting
back, with the help of a little more of Matilda’s magic.
Kids (singing or chanting):
We are revolting children.
We sing revolting songs.
And we’ll have the Trunchbull bolting.
We are revolting!
Trunchbull:
I’ve been busy! A whole array of Chokeys! One for each and every one of you!
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Nigel:
The chalk! Look, the chalk, it’s moving! It’s writing something! (Reading)
‘Agatha, this is Magnus! Give my Jenny back her house. And then leave.
Or I will get you like you got me! Run!
Everyone to Miss Trunchbull:
RUN!!!
15.
At long last and after a great deal of trouble, justice triumphs and we have a
happy ending to this story. Mr. Wormwood has been found out by the Russian
Mafia he was trying to fool and the Wormwoods are forced to leave town. Miss
Honey, now comfortably off and living in a big house, has a special request.
Miss Honey:
Let Matilda stay here with me! I would look after her with love and respect
and care and I’d pay for everything. Would you like that, Matilda?
Matilda:
Yes! Yes I would!
THE END
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Matilda The Musical in 40 Minutes
1.
Most parents think their own children are miracles and the brainiest or
prettiest people, the bravest soldiers, the best ballerinas, the most special
people on earth, don’t they? Well, there was one family where this was
definitely not the case. Mrs. Wormwood, nine months pregnant, wants
more than anything to dance in a certain competition. She does NOT want
another baby. Her husband, Mr. Wormwood, doesn’t much care, but if
there is going to be another baby, it has to be a boy. The doctor who is
delivering the beautiful new girl, Matilda, can’t believe these parents!
Doctor:
This is one of the most beautiful children that I’ve ever seen!
Mr. Wormwood:
Looks like a prune. You need glasses!
Mrs. Wormwood:
This is the worst day of my life.
2.
Five years later Mr. Wormwood, on the phone at home, is running his
dodgy business dressing up old banger cars as luxury limousines. Suddenly
Mrs. Wormwood screams from the next room. When her husband rushes
in she shouts that their five year old daughter is ‘doing it again!’
Mrs. Wormwood:
Five years old and she’s reading. Books, if you don’t mind.
That’s not normal – the child is clearly an idiot.
Matilda:
Listen to this – ‘It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times, it was an age of wisdom…’
Mr. Wormwood:
Who do you think you are? You’re off to school in a few days time and I know
the headmistress, Agatha Trunchbull. I’ve told her all about you. Imagine
what she’s going to do to a horrible squeaky little goblin like you, boy.
Matilda (as she runs off)
I’m … I’m a girl…
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3.
Now Matilda is no push-over. She’s got a powerful imagination and a very
strong sense of what’s right and what’s wrong. While her mother is brushing
her teeth, Matilda thinks up a plan to get back at her parents. When her mother
leaves the bathroom, Matilda sneaks in and mixes her mother’s platinum hair
dye with her father’s Oil of Violets Hair Tonic. Shortly afterward her father
applies this lotion to the hair he’s so proud of. Matilda tells her audience that
just because you’re small doesn’t mean you have to put up with injustice.
Mrs. Wormwood:
Your … hair! It’s …. green!
Mr. Wormwood (looking in a mirror):
My hair’s green!
Matilda:
Just because you find that life’s not fair, it
Doesn’t mean that you just have to grin and bear it.
Sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty.
4.
Matilda, as you might imagine, loves to go to the library. Here
she is, sitting on the floor, looking through some books. Mrs.
Phelps, the librarian, greets her happily and asks her to tell her
a story (remember, Matilda has a strong imagination).
Matilda:
Once upon a time . . .
Mrs. Phelps squeals with delight and puts a ‘Closed’ sign up on the library door.
Matilda:
Once upon a time the two greatest circus performers in the world fell in love and
got married. People would come from miles around to see their skill and their
love for each other. But though they loved each other, though they were famous
and everyone loved them, they were sad. ‘We do not have a child,’ they said.
Their sadness drew them to ever more dangerous feats and they decided
to perform the most dangerous feat ever known to man. It was called: the
Burning Woman Hurling Through The Air With Dynamite In Her Hair
Over Sharks And Spiky Objects, Caught By The Man Locked In The Safe.
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5.
It’s the first day of school. The New Kids skip up to the
gates, full of hope and confidence. Just as they reach the
main gate the Big Kids rush out, terrifying them.
Big Kids (singing):
You listen here, my dear, you’ll be punished so severely if you
Step out of line and if you cry it will be double,
You should stay out of trouble,
And remember to be extremely careful.
Nigel:
Why?
Girl 1:
My mummy says I’m a miracle.
Big Kids:
And so you think you’re
Able to survive this mess by
Being a prince or princess, you will soon
See there’s no escaping tragedy.
6.
Suddenly there’s a ‘testing, testing’ sound coming through a
speaker system. The Big Kids freeze and then so do the New
Kids. Agatha Trunchbull, the headmistress, speaks:
Trunchbull:
Prisoners Letchworth, Rottwinkle, Finglebottom and Gubbinsworth:
report to my study immediately for … re-education.
(fiercely) WHAT. IS. THE SCHOOL. MOTTO.
Big Kids:
‘Bambinatum est Maggitum,’ Miss Trunchbull.
Trunchbull:
‘Bambinatum est Maggitum.’ ‘Children are maggots.’ Back to work, maggots.
7.
The New Kids are in class. Miss Honey, gentle, kind and loving Miss
Honey, is their teacher. She starts with the two times tables:
Miss Honey:
My name is Miss Honey. And today is a very special day: your first
day at school. Now, do any of you know any of your two times tables?
Wonderful! Matilda, isn’t it? Please stand and do as much as you can …
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Matilda:
One times two is two, two times two is four, seven times
two is fourteen, twelve times two is twenty-four.
Miss Honey (amazed):
Now this is much harder, so don’t worry if you don’t get
it, but two times four hundred and eighty seven…
Matilda (immediately):
Nine hundred and seventy-four.
8.
Miss Honey realizes that Matilda is a special child, a gifted child who
should go up into an older class. She stands trembling outside the
Headmistress’s office door. Several times she tries to knock but her
courage fails her. Finally she gives a timid knock and goes in.
Trunchbull:
Well don’t stand there like a wet tissue. Get on with it.
Miss Honey:
Well, yes, there’s in, in, in my class there is a little girl called
Matilda Wormwood and, Miss Trunchbull, Matilda is a genius and
should be placed in the top form with the eleven year olds.
Trunchbull:
What? But she is a squib, a shrimp, an un-hatched tadpole. We
cannot just ‘place her in the top form.’ What about rules, Honey,
rules? How do you think I became the English hammer-throwing
champion of 1969? By keeping to the rules. If you want to teach
success, you have to force the little squits to toe the line.
9.
Back at the Wormwoods’ house, Mr. Wormwood is in a very bad
mood. The Russians who were supposed to be buying his dodgy cars
and making him rich have caught him at it. His green hair didn’t help. In
a fit of temper he blames it all on Matilda, who is reading as usual.
Mr. Wormwood:
And what’s this? Another flaming book? What’s wrong with the telly?
Mrs. Wormwood:
She’s got no respect, that one. It’s all books and stories.
Mr. Wormwood:
Here’s what I think of your book! (He rips it up.)
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Matilda silently gathers up the pieces of the torn book, then goes into the
hall and puts superglue inside her father’s hat. To the audience she sings:
Matilda:
Just because you find that life’s not fair, it
Doesn’t mean that you just have to grin and bear it.
Mr. Wormwood goes into the hall, smashes his hat down
on his head, looks in the mirror and says:
Mr Wormwood:
A man with a jaunty hat will always get respect.
10.
Back at school Matilda witnesses a terrible piece of injustice when
Headmistress Trunchbull blames Nigel for pouring treacle on her chair. The
Older Kids tell Matilda about the worst punishment of all – the dreaded
CHOKEY! Despite her terror Matilda rescues Nigel from this terrible fate
by pretending he’s been sleeping for ages under a pile of coats.
Big Kids (singing the Chokey Chant):
There’s a place you are sent
If you haven’t been good
And it’s made of spikes and wood.
And when you scream
you dunno if the sound came out
Of if the scream in your head
Never reached your mouth.
Matilda (to the Trunchbull):
He’s over there under those coats. He suffers from a sleep disorder and feel
asleep and we put him in the coats for safety. Didn’t we? Didn’t we?
Big Kids:
Yes!
Nigel (coming out from under the coats and yawning):
Is it time for school yet, mum?
11.
Meantime, Miss Honey, determined to do her best for Matilda, visits her parents. Mrs.
Wormwood is at home practicing her dancing with her rather greasy partner, Rudolpho.
Rudolpho and Mrs Wormwood explain to Miss Honey why it’s stupid to be clever.
Mrs. Wormwood & Rudolpho
(singing or chanting together as they dance):
You seem to think that people like people who are clever,
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It’s very quaint, it’s very sweet, but WRONG.
What you know matters less
Than the volume with which what you don’t know’s expressed.
You gotta be, you gotta be
LOUD, LOUD, LOUD!
Miss Honey (storming out):
If you think some stupid dance lesson is more important than your daughter!
12.
While Miss Honey is at the Wormwoods’, Matilda is in the library
telling Mrs. Phelps the next part of her story about the Acrobat and
her husband, the Escapologist. Matilda acts out all the parts.
Escapologist:
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, ‘The Burning
Woman Hurling through the Air with Dynamite’ has been
cancelled – cancelled because my wife is … pregnant.
The Acrobat’s Wicked Sister (producing a paper contract):
A contract you have signed to perform this feat, and perform you shall!
Mrs. Phelps:
No, no! What happened next?
Matilda:
I don’t know yet. I’ll tell you tomorrow.
13.
Back at school there’s more trouble. The Trunchbull accuses Matilda of
eating a slice of her chocolate cake. Suddenly, Bruce Bogtrotter gives
the most enormous burp you’ve ever heard and Trunchbull realises
that Bruce ate the cake. As his first punishment Bruce is forced to eat
the biggest chocolate cake imaginable, brought in by the cook – all
of it, all by himself. Then she drags him off to the Chokey!
Trunchbull:
Eat!
Bruce:
But I can’t eat it all!
Trunchbull:
Eat!
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Matilda:
Go on Bruce!
Trunchbull:
That was the first part of your punishment. And the second part is … chokey!
Matilda (as Bruce is dragged off by Miss Trunchbull)
That’s not right!
14.
In the library Mrs. Phelps waits anxiously for the end of Matilda’s
story. The acrobat hugs her husband and comforts him before
they perform the most dangerous act of all time.
Matilda (acting out the story herself as far as possible):
The crowd held their breath as she hurled over the sharks and
spiky objects. They watched as the flames crept up the dress. The
door of the safe flung open and the escapologist reached out
one huge, muscled arm to catch his wife and child and …
Mrs. Phelps:
Oh, I can’t look!
Matilda:
The Escapologist used just a touch too much foam to kill the flames and
suddenly their hands became slippy … and she fell. She broke every bone
in her body, but lived long enough to have their child. And then she died.
15.
Shortly afterward, at the Wormwood house, Mr. Wormwood is jumping
about, shouting about his own cleverness in tricking the Russians into
buying 150 old banger cars. Mrs. Wormwood and Matilda react very
differently to the news and Matilda’s father delivers a terrible blow:
Mrs. Wormwood:
Fantastico! Now I’ll be able to afford Rudolpho all day long!
Matilda:
But you’ve cheated them! That’s not fair at all; they
trusted you and you’ve cheated them!
Mr. Wormwood:
Working my fingers to the bone! Tomorrow I’m gonna go down to
that library and tell that old bag you’re never to be let in again!
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16.
To comfort herself Matilda continues her story. It’s so real to her that the
characters actually appear. The wicked aunt has thrown the Escapologist’s
little girl, now about Matilda’s age, into a dark cellar and locked the
door. The little girl huddles in a corner, shivering and crying. Matilda tries
to comfort her but the girl doesn’t notice. Suddenly there’s a banging on
the door and the Escapologist, home early, bursts in and both girls run to
him. He puts his arms around both of them and the girls fall asleep from
exhaustion. Then the Escapologist makes a promise to his sleeping daughter:
Escapologist:
This demon, this villain, this monster. Bullying children is her
game, is it? Then let us see what this creature thinks she can
do when the wrath of a grown man stands before her!
Matilda:
And that was the last the little girl ever saw of her father.
Because he never ever came home. Ever again.
17.
At school the Trunchbull is once more on the rampage. Lavender has
put a newt in Trunchbull’s drinking glass. The Trunchbull screams
and stands on a chair. And then she lowers her head and makes for
Eric, grabbing him by the ears. Matilda can’t take any more:
Matilda:
Leave him alone, you BIG FAT BULLY!!!
(Everyone gasps.)
Trunchbull (to Matilda):
I shall crush you! I shall pound you, I shall dissect you. I shall
feed you to the termites and then I shall smash …
Matilda (whispering to herself):
Tip it … tip it over!
(Magically the glass tips over and the newt/toad leaps onto
the Trunchbull who screams and screams and then runs out.
Everyone looks at each other and then at Matilda.)
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18.
Miss Honey invites Matilda to her very simple home, with a box for a table and a
mattress made of straw. They sit on the floor and have tea and then Miss Honey
tells Matilda her story – which will remind you of another one you’ve heard:
Miss Honey:
My father was a wonderful man called Magnus. But unfortunately he
died when I was very young … in suspicious circumstances. And I was
left with my aunt; she was a terror and when I got my job as a teacher, she
suddenly presented me with a bill for looking after me all those years.
Matilda:
Miss Honey … is this your father’s scarf?
Miss Honey:
Well, yes. My mother gave it to my father before she died. She was –
Matilda:
An acrobat.
Miss Honey:
How did you … And my father was –
Matilda:
An escapologist. Who is your aunt?
Miss Honey:
You know her, Matilda. My aunt is –
Both together:
Miss Trunchbull.
19.
And the very same Miss Trunchbull is on the attack again, threatening to
put children in the chokey. But this time the children are fighting back.
Trunchbull:
What are you doing? What’s going on? Stop this!
Kids singing:
We are revolting children.
We sing revolting songs.
We’ll be revolting children
‘Til our revolting’s done,
And we’ll have the Trunchbull bolting.
We are revolting!
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Trunchbull:
I’ve been busy! A whole array of chokeys! One for each and every one of you!
Nigel:
The chalk! Look, the chalk, it’s moving! It’s writing something! (Reading)
‘Agatha, this is Magnus! Give my Jenny back her house. And then leave.
Or I will get you like you got me! Run!
Everyone to Miss Trunchbull:
RUN!!!
They all look at Matilda.
20.
At long last and after a great deal of trouble, justice triumphs and we have a
happy ending to this story. Mr. Wormwood has been found out by the Russian
Mafia he was trying to fool and the Wormwoods are forced to leave town. Miss
Honey, now comfortably off and living in a big house, has a special request.
Miss Honey:
Let Matilda stay here with me! I would look after her with love and respect
and care and I’d pay for everything. Would you like that, Matilda?
Matilda:
Yes! Yes I would!
Mr. Wormwood:
Well, we’re a bit short of room …
Matilda and Miss Honey hug each other.
Together:
They had found each other.
The End
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