The Worst Witch – Vaudeville Theatre

Pictures: Roy Tan

The Worst Witch continues at the Vaudeville Theatre, London until 8 September 2019.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Jill Murphy’s entertaining, imaginative boarding school for witches pre-dated Harry Potter by a whole generation. And Emma Reeves’ excellent adaptation includes several witty references to make sure that we don’t forget that.

Now transferred from the Royal & Derngate, Northampton, which produced it last year, to the Vaudeville for a short West End run The Worst Witch is humane, funny and beautifully staged.

One of its (many) strengths is the integrated use of actor-musos. Yes, there’s an up-stage, on-stage band of sorts – led by the very talented Molly-Grace Cutler – but they also come forward to play roles and sometimes other actors nip back to play instruments. Who does what is all, appealingly, blurred in this show.

Mildred Hubble (Danielle Bird), the titular worst witch, arrives at the school but finds every task difficult so  things constantly go wrong for her. Bird is a splendid actor: rueful, anxious, decent, worried. She is also a fine singer and – what a lovely surprise! – no mean acrobat either as we see when she gets aloft on her broomstick.

Rosie Abraham shines as Ethel, the obnoxious know-it-all bully who delights in being outrageous. With a petite stature she’s totally convincing as a 12 year old, too.

Consuela Rolle finds lots of larger-than-life brashness in energetic Enid and she sings jazz beautifully.

There’s a lovely performance from Rachel Heaton as Miss Hardbroom, the deputy head. She’s strict and uncompromising, often putting her charges down – until eventually she thaws.

And Polly Lister is enormous fun as the rather dappy, kindly headmistress, Miss Cackle (most of us remember from school someone very much like her) and doubling as her glittering twin sister Agatha. The latter really is a witch in every sense but I’ll spare you the spoilers.

Really though, this is an ensemble piece in which all eleven performers work very effectively together and play off each other with verve.

I vividly remember the cover illustrations from the copies of Jill Murphy’s books that my children had in the 1980s and Simon Daw’s set captures those spiky blue silhouettes perfectly. He also makes neat use of a scaffold with steps and platforms which slides backwards and forwards and provides the action with visual depth.

If you’re looking for some quality musical theatre complete with laughs and decent human values to take the kids to this summer then this is the show for you.

Susan Elkin

Tickets for The Worst Witch are available HERE