Drama live theatre

Sitting: at the back, far right of the stalls, on the end next to the isle.

View: clear but slightly sided

Type of stage: proscenium- covered in letters of the alphabet- words spelling; escape, malice, shiny, enormous

Effect: not involved in confetti, some cast walked along the isle next to me, could not see the main, middle isle where a life-size doll fell from above, saw the singers in the royal box very clearly, paper planes thrown into audience but did not reach where we were, not scared when Trunchbull stormed through isle because too far away

Auditorium: sound booth at the back of the auditorium so sound technician could listen and watch, orchestra under stage, chalkboards and letters continue along the side walls of the auditorium, cast enter through auditorium.

Genre: Musical Theatre

Style: Naturalistic, Brechtian, abstract- heightened

Structure: 2 acts, narrative, chronological

light- lit up letters on floor; educational, colourful lights change the mood and the scene, e.g. blue was a melancholy scene- with Miss H, white flood lights- hospital atmosphere, spot on Matilda, baby, singer: to draw attention, change of light during acrobat story, Trunchbull school: blackout then red light + smoke machine; scary, strobe lights; dramatic, red strobe repeated for emphasis and to encourage a learned reaction, white flashes like cameras as if in tournament, pink misty, soft light, fart;amusing, pink and blue dappled gobo during ballroom; fun, vibrant, silhouette projection on to curtains; acrobat story; exciting contrast, chokey created, pathetic fallacy of thunder and lightning, green lasers shoot through the auditorium and stage; many chokeys, colourful jigsaw spots, childlike tone         

sound and music- Nursery rhymes; childish, circus music; tension increased, siren and ceepy music at school gates, school bell; prompts set change, screaming sounds; school; scary, music builds anticipation, dramatic,loud music for Trunchbull, applause sound effect for escapologist, comical long burp sound, dad tears book and throws down pages with a loud bang, music and songs tell stories, rumbling; apprehension, echoes; Trunchbull, clock ticks; tension, relaxed, happy music for Miss Honey's house, crashes accompany green laser beams, firework sounds; celebration, Matilda and Escapologist speak the same words at same time

props- life- size doll falls from above into isle; freaky, dramatic, real flame beacon, cup; falls over by itself; exciting, magic, massive chocolate cake, multi-coloured scooters; childhood, innocence, chalk floats and writes on board

set- bunting; childhood celebration, 4 swings; Brechtian, childhood, Honey's house is simplistic; poor, wooden platform, with pillow and sheet for bed, massive gates, kids dance on and climb them, bathroom set; 2D, pop- up scenery from stage, use of fake light switch timed with lights; comical, clever, Brechtian

action- cast enter through auditorium; connected, exciting, sing in royal box, frequent use of dance, song and music throughout; childlike nature, fun, upbeat tone; Brechtian

costume- princess, superhero, ballerina; innocence, fun, dreamland, doctor coat, pregnant belly, Matilda's mum: colourful, flouny, elaborate, big wig, makeup, (all about appearance), pink fluffy handheld mirror- vain, green hair transformation; funny, childish magic, school uniform, Michael: baggy clothes, cap, Trunchbull: severely tight hair, slick bun, long brown trench coat, Miss Honey, pink floral dress, glasses, endearing, gentle, sweet, harness; girl swung by 'pig tails', Escapologist; cloak and sliver crown- performance, Russian Mafia; wigs, black clothes, dark glasses, hats, briefcases, fur coats, moustache, beard, black gloves, weapons- lead pipe, wrench- comical, satirical, heightened, stereotypes

• big opening, storyline continues, exciting moment; cliff hanger for interval, act 2- shorter scenes, anticipation, climatic ending
• Trunchbull's scenes are fast paced to show aggression and passion and lack of patience
• In the song 'Quiet', it is a very slow pace asif everything is in slow motion 
• Dances and songs are very fastpaced with lots of movement and energy
• No cues for sound technician, has to learn script to keep pace up
• dance, songs and music keep the pace going quickly with a contrast of quick and slow but mostly quick

Set in England

Books in contrast to telly- shows education and background

Neglect shown by Matilda's parents; beating children at home and in school as a form of punishment usd to be acceptable

The white scarf links the old story to main one

Big, old chunky telly, demonstrates the time period and the obsession with the tellyimplies that it could be exciting and fairly new

Use of a chalk board and the old singular desks in the classroom show it is dated and not familiar to yound children watching it today

• Relationships: Matilda's mum insults and is hash on Matilda, Mrs Trunchbull is linked to Matilda's dad, both horrible, loud and rude, Trunchbull is played by a man, Matilda satirises her dad and tricks him just like he frauds innocent people, Trunchbull is in control in most of her relationships, Mafia kneel infront of Matilda showing respect, At th end Mr Wormwood steps back from Matilda, afraid
• Contrast: Matilda- messy hair- careless parents contrast to her immaculate friends and her mum, Mrs Wormwood- loud and angry; contrasts to Miss Honey- sweet and polite, Michael contrast to Matilda; lazy, slobbish, dumb, dull, rude, Trunhcbull; contrast with Honey shown by mannerisms, costume and language, the Russian mafia are actually shwon a good and respectful unlke Mr Wormwood and Trunchbull
• Objectives: Matilda; overcome boundaries and to control her own fate, not focused on appearance like her mum, Mr Wormwood; wants to get money and to watch TV, and desperatey tries to prevent Matilda from reading, Trunchbull wants to control everything and hates children, Mis Honey wants to look after Matilda and be the loving figure that Matilda does not have
• Acting skills: Honey moves away from Trunchbull; intimidated, her voice wavers, Trunchbull is in control, Trunchbull stands tall and broad to show power, Lavendar breaks 4th wall

• 'Barralina'- childish, age
• Mrs W- loud, speaks improper English
• Trunchbull- loud, deep voice, harsh tone, rude, intimidating, shows power and status
• 'Telly'- character
• In 'Revoltin' Children' the kids 'spl' things wrong to stand up to Trunchbull 'shu'
• 'Naughty' show cheeky child innocence
• The proscenium arch has words on it: Malice, enormous, escape, shiny- set the scene
• Miss Honey is polite and well spoken which contrasts with Matilda's mum who speaks incorrectly and drops constonants- lazy

Childhood and Growing up

Neglect

Social Status

Education

Abuse of Power

Family and Love and Care

Morals- Good over Evil

Freedom and Confinement

lots of dancing and movement, enter through auditorium isles and wings, sing in royal box   paper planes thrown into audience, confetti falls onto audience, swings swing above front row, columns of bookshelves slide on to create library, kids climb and dance on gates