Released for amateur productions only in the past few months, The Steward School Theatre Department is one of the first schools to produce the recent Broadway hit Roald Dahl’s "Matilda The Musical."

“It’s becoming a tradition for us to be among the first schools to produce Broadway hits,” director Craig Smith said. “Last year, we performed the high school version of "Chicago," which had just been released. This year, we are excited to share "Matilda" with our community. Musicals at Steward are always a lot of fun, but this really adds an extra layer of excitement.”

In classic Dahl darkly humorous style, "Matilda" tells the story of a gifted young girl who is not appreciated by her parents or by the evil headmistress of the school she attends (at Steward, headmistress Miss Trunchbull is played by Daniel Corcoran ‘20). Matilda (Elise Gresham ‘24) finds comfort in her wonderful imagination and under the care of the sweet Miss Honey (Kendall Shamus ‘20), and she stands up to all her challenges is this witty and fast-paced musical.

Not only does the cast, which spans students from Lower, Middle, and Upper School, sing and dance throughout the show, they’re doing it all in British accents.

Andrew Hall ‘25 is playing Eric, a character he describes as a “schoolkid who gets his ears stretched by Trunchbull.” He’s having a hard time not speaking in a British accent all the time, even off stage, he said, which Elise (playing Matilda) agreed with.

Andrew and Elise shared that the audience will not only enjoy the dark humor and British accents, but also will take away an important lesson. They shared that moral by spontaneously breaking out into song together, with lyrics from the show’s song "Naughty": “Even if you’re little, you can do a lot.”

Matilda (the character) exemplifies this, Elise said. “She finds ways to use her mind through reading and telling stories to escape her own life. She finds her power.”

After watching the show, the audience “should understand that you don’t have to let the people around you control how you feel, what you do, or define who you are,” Andrew said. “Be yourself.”

“And be resilient,” Mr. Smith added, relating the show to the school’s year-long theme of resilience.

The show opens at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 24 in the Robins Theatre and runs for three nights. As always, admission is free. The community is welcome to join ArtLink for “Dinner and a Show” at 6 p.m. on Oct. 24.