EXCLUSIVE: There’s some seriously scary stuff going on at London’s National Theatre as the venue prepares for a musical version of Roald Dahl’s The Witches that will feature book and lyrics by playwright Lucy Kirkwood, who’s also an executive consultant on Succession.
Music and lyrics are by Dave Molloy, who won acclaim for the book and score he wrote for Broadway show Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812.
The show is a co-production between the National and the Roald Dahl Story Company.
Katherine Kingsley (The Larkins) will play the Grand High Witch, whose only objective is to eliminate all children from the planet and turn them into mice. “She’s a tyrannical narcissist, truly she’s really evil. There’s no escaping the fact that she’s a bad person,” Kingsley told us.
“It’s a great role,” she laughed. “There’s a lot of fun to be had with her, but equally she’s utterly terrifying.”
Kingsley, who can be seen in Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, said that she has thoroughly enjoyed workshopping the show with director Lyndsey Turner and her creative team at the National’s development studios on the South Bank near Waterloo.
Her coven of witches dares not disobey the Grand High Witch, said Kingsley. “She takes no prisoners and isn’t afraid to destroy her own. She won’t be frightened of frizzling them in front of other witches just to make sure they know where they stand.”
The Grand High Witch has potions “and nasty little tricks up her devious sleeve,” Kingsley warned.
The character is highly polished and respectable looking — no pointy hat or broomstick. “She has a private jet,” said Kingsley, who last worked at the NT when Turner directed her in a 2019 revival of Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls.
The Witches is having a final workshop this week. Rehearsals start in September, and performances begin November 7 in the NT’s Olivier Theatre.
Kingsley and officials at the NT cautioned that the show is for ages 8 and up. The actress observed that her own three year old son won’t be seeing it.
Tickets go on general sale April 27 and they start at £20. ”There will be loads going for £20 which is really good news,” said Kingsley.
Asked if the creative team was using a censored text of Dahl’s work following the decision to remove words that some might deem offensive, Kingsley noted that she had not been part of “any such conversations” and that the story the production is using is Kirkwood’s original adaptation.
However, Kingsley continued: “What I will say is that we’ve always been very mindful of the way that certain characters may well be depicted. It’s a very female team, and I think because it’s a theater production it will be extremely creative and very exciting.”
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The cast also includes Daniel Rigby, Julie Armstrong, Chrissie Bhima, Zoe Burkett, Daniele Coombe, Molly-May Gardiner, Tiffany Graves, Tania Mathurin, Jacob Maynard, Laura Medforth and Ben Redfern.
Creative team: The set and costume designer is Lizzie Clachan with choreographer Stephen Mear, music supervisor Nigel Lilley, music director Cat Beveridge, lighting designer Bruno Poet, co-sound designers Alexander Caplen and Ian Dickinson, video designer Ash J Woodward, illusions by Chris Fisher and Will Houstoun, casting director Bryony Jarvis-Taylor, associate director Séimí Campbell, staff director Priya Patel Appleby, associate set designer Shankho Chaudhuri, associate costume designer Johanna Coe, associate choreographer Jo Morris, associate music director Natalie Pound and children’s and assistant music director Sarah Morrison.
The new NT season also will feature a revival of Lucy Prebble’s The Effect directed by Jamie Lloyd. It runs in the NT’s Lyttelton from August and will star Paapa Essiedu and Taylor Russell.
There will also be a revival of Anupama Chandrasekhar’s gripping play The Father and the Assassin directed by Indhu Rubasingham, which will play in the Olivier from September. It will star Hiran Abeysekera (Life of Pi) and Paul Bazely.