CASTING has been announced for the upcoming tour of the highly acclaimed musical based on a based on a Roald Dahl book which visits Devon early next year.

The upcoming tour of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Matilda The Musical, which this year celebrates 15 years on stage, will play at the TRP from January 13 to February 7.

Sharing the title role of Matilda will be Madison Davis, Mollie Hutton, Olivia Ironmonger and Sanna Kurihara .

Richard Hurst will play Miss Trunchbull, Tessa Kadler will play Miss Honey, Adam Stafford will play Mr Wormwood and Rebecca Thornhill will play Mrs Wormwood.

They will be joined by Scotty Armstrong, Sam Holden, Portia Jefferies, Caiomhe Judd, Brooke Kelly, Ryan Lay, Cassandra Lee, Samuel Leon, Jordan Maisuria-Wake, Nicole Manumbre, Lizzie Nance, Esther Niles, Jordan Ricketts, Josh Singleton, Bradley Trevethan, Ella Tweed, Ben Tyler and Karen Walker.

The other young performers announced today are: Rudy Bragg, Jacob Connor-Ashton, Charlie Cox, Sylvie Grace, Rose Jammeh, Dottie Jones, Takunda Khumalo, Sana Lennon, Oisin-Luca Pegg, Millie-May Mankowska, Tate Masuku, Leo Maurice, Carter-J Murphy, Jaxon James Nolan, Cole Nicholson, Pixie Pettigrew, Brodie Robson, Haiden Sihapanya and Felix Schmitt.

Tim Minchin, who wrote the music and lyrics for the musical, made a surprise visit to the rehearsal room last week to meet the young tour cast.

The internationally renowned musical continues to play to packed houses in the West End at the Cambridge Theatre and has so far been seen by 12 million people across 100 cities around the world.

Matilda is the story of an extraordinary little girl who, armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, dares to take a stand and change her own destiny.

British children's author Roald Dahl wrote the original novel Matilda, illustrated by Quentin Blake in 1988. The novel was adapted into a 1996 American film directed by Danny DeVito as well as an audio reading by Kate Winslet and a BBC Radio 4 programme narrated by Lenny Henry

In December 2009, the Royal Shakespeare Company announced its intention to stage a musical adaptation with direction by Matthew Warchus and adaptation by Dennis Kelly. Musician and comedian Tim Minchin was chosen to write music and lyrics after Warchus saw his 2009 tour Ready for This - and the rest, as they say, is musical theatre history.

This anarchic production, about a strong and determined heroine with a vivid imagination, has won over 100 global awards, including 24 for Best Musical. A film adaptation made by the core creative team received its World Premiere at the London Film Festival in October 2022 and can now be watched on Netflix.

Written by Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and developed and directed by Matthew Warchus, the production is designed by Rob Howell, with choreography by Peter Darling, orchestrations, additional music and musical supervision by Christopher Nightingale, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound by Simon Baker and special effects and illusions by Paul Kieve.

For showtimes and ticket details see the venue’s website https://theatreroyal.com.