★★★★☆

With one long running mammoth Dahl adaptation running in the West End it was inevitable that this new adaptation of The Witches would get compared.

This is the second time that the novel has been adapted for the stage with a very successful play version by David Wood which premiered in 1992. I enjoyed the play and was interested to see how it would translate to the genre of musical theatre, and the massive stage that is the Olivier.

As last year with Hex (and the previous year with an aborted attempt at the same show) this is the Nationals’ Christmas family show. There is no doubt that The Witches is more suited to a family audience than it’s predecessor was – though the baby eating theme of Hex has been replaced by the child killing theme of The Witches!

This adaptation as a book and lyrics written by Lucy Kirkwood, and music and lyrics written by David Malloy. I am hoping that a cast recording is released at some point – the songs were good but other than ‘Get Up’, and possibly ‘Bruno Sweet Bruno’ none of them were memorable enough to sing along afterwards – a cast recording would, I’m sure improve that.

Lyndsey Turner makes great use of the stage in her direction. The Olivier is a daunting space to fill, and the seating means that there are few places to hide (as opposed to the more traditional Lyttleton). The revolve works well to allow the young cast to make it on and offstage whist hidden in various set and prop items, and ensures that the action moves swiftly from one scene to the next. The design (by Lizzie Clachlan) is very clever and as an audience member had me continually guessing on who was going to appear from where. It was also garish when needed and cartoonish at times, in keeping with the themes of the story.

The cast is huge and it is so nice to see such a large female ensemble – a requirement, given the nature of the story. With 22 adults, plus 30 children making up three rotating teams, this was a true tour de force and so nice to see (and hear) given that budget constraints these days are resulting in shows with much smaller casts.

Katherine Kingsley

The stand out adult performers were Katherine Kingsley as the Grand High Witch (who was deliciously evil with all the elements of a true villain) and Sally Ann Triplett as Gran. Her ‘When I was Young’ song was tender and moving as she remember her past self. She also had great chemistry with Vishal Soni who played Luke in the performance I saw.

Both Vishal and William Skinner who played Bruno excelled in their roles, and carried the show at many points – not a small undertaking for two young performers. William especially blew me away with his portrayal of the spoilt brat and ‘Bruno Sweet Bruno’ was definitely a show stopping moment. This marks his professional theatre debut and I can only imagine that there will be more great things to come from him. Rounding up the trio of lead child performers was Asanda Abbie Maskie as Gran’s childhood friend and gnome, Helga.

William Skinner and Vishal Soni

This does lead me to one of the more disappointing moments of the show. It has been heavily advertised on social media with a video of the young company recording ‘Get Up’ in a studio. As a result this was a song that I was looking forward to. Whilst I cannot fault the young company – lead by Asanda Abbie Mackie – I found the staging of it to be dull. I would hope that in any future run of this show that this is rectified. It was a lovely point in the show, but it just felt like something was missing.

Vishal Soni, Asanda Abbie Maskie and the young company

This will undoubtably be a big success for the National. It is tapping into the family audience at exactly the right point of the year. I’m probably in the minority in that I did actually enjoy Hex for is pure absurdity. I enjoyed The Witches as well, just in a completely different way.

The Witches is at The Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre until 27th January 2024. Tickets availabe here – https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/the-witches/

Photos © Marc Brenner