Craige Els will become the latest cross-dressing musical theatre star to take on the formidable role of the terrifying Miss Trunchbull in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s seven time Olivier Award-winning hit Matilda The Musical.
Following in the footsteps of actors including Bertie Carvel, David Leonard and current lead Alex Gaumond, Els will don Miss Trunchbull’s padded fat suit and fake moles to join the family favourite about a little girl who develops magical powers from September.
While Els most recent stage credits have come at the National Theatre in productions of Timon Of Athens, Antigone and The Cherry Orchard, the actor is no stranger to musical theatre, with West End appearances including Mamma Mia!, Never Forget and Spamalot.
Audiences will also recognise Els – or not, as the case may be by the time the actor has undergone his nightly transformation into the child-hating headmistress – from his screen appearances in Ripper Street, The Bletchley Circle and Call The Midwife.
Els will join existing leading cast members James Clyde, Haley Flaherty and Kay Murphy alongside fellow newcomers Violet Tucker and the fittingly named Matilda Shapland who will share the key role of the young girl at the centre of Roald Dahl’s magical tale with Tasha Chapple and Lottie Sicilia.
Matilda The Musical, which features witty songs by Tim Minchin and an equally mischievous script by acclaimed playwright Dennis Kelly, is currently booking at the Cambridge Theatre until 24 May 2015.
Watch Kelly and Minchin interviewing their Miss Trunchbull in the video above.