Roald Dahl is famed for his larger-than-life characters - and they don’t come any more formidable than Miss Trunchbull, the headmistress of Crunchem Hall Primary School, who detests children to her core. A ‘tyrannical monster’, she spends her days intimidating the ‘revolting children’ in her charge - force-feeding them cake and swinging them around the playground by their pigtails.
Historically played by a man, it’s Welsh actor Craige Els who’s charged with bringing this eccentric and bloodthirsty character to life on the Hippodrome stage.
What’s On recently caught up with Craige to find out more about his role...
What’s the best thing about playing Miss Trunchbull?
The role itself is obviously fantastic. It’s a wonderful challenge and a wonderful responsibility to be playing such a notorious villain. Dennis’ script is a joy to perform every night, and I think most of all, I get to work alongside my fantastic tiny little co-stars, who are exceptional in every way. All the adults in the cast would agree that it’s them who keep us going and make us laugh daily. They definitely set the bar energy-wise.
Normally it’s when a cast gets to that six-month point that the energy starts to dip and people get a bit tired. I think having a fresh influx of kids is a reminder that it is, in fact, the best job in the world. They’re all very excited, and it’s a lovely, gentle reminder halfway through a contract that it’s exciting to do.
What personal attributes do you think helped bag you the role?
I think I was the right height. You have to have a certain amount of flexibility to be able to do all of the athletic stuff that Miss Trunchbull has to do, and that was something I could definitely bring to the table. As far as everything else, I think I was just the lucky guy they picked on the day.
What research did you undertake for the role?
All of the research is there in the book itself. Roald Dahl’s descriptions are so brilliant. She’s also very masculine, which is a plus point for me, and you just work through it all in rehearsals. You find the places in the show where feminine touches can creep in, but more often than not, rather than just approaching her as ‘playing a woman’, I try to approach her as ‘playing Miss Trunchbull’. Not necessarily gender specific but more of an ogress.
Tell us about your Trunchformation...
We have a fantastic wigs & wardrobe team, and we’ve now got the transformation down to about half an hour. I do the make-up myself, and then the wigs team come in and put the wig on. Then I slip into the fat suit, and the rest just gets draped over me until she’s complete.
Do you have a pre-show warm-up, to get you into the right mindset to play Miss Trunchbull?
Before the costume goes on, we do a full company warm-up and I do my own vocal warm-up, to try and get myself into the right place for her voice. Then once the costume’s on, I guess there’s about 20 minutes at the start of the show when everyone else is on stage but I’m not. It’s quite handy spending that time alone because in my head she’s a solitary character, quite introvert and complicated, so it’s nice to spend that time alone to check over my lines and get into the right place mentally.
How do you re-find yourself post-show?
The end of the show is so euphoric. The bows at the end on the scooters are all very upbeat and very happy. Once you receive the applause from the audience, that tends to lift you out of any dark humour you might be in. Any residual Trunch is gone by that point.
What’s been the most difficult aspect of her character to master?
I suppose that having played the role for such a long time, the biggest challenge is to ensure that she stays within the parameters of reality and doesn’t become too grotesque; that I never send her up, and that she remains rooted in truth. That’s the biggest challenge; to make sure she stays who she’s meant to be.
And have there ever been any mishaps?
There have been a few. I’ve had warts that have fallen off, and I bit off the hair from one of my moles once, which was particularly unpleasant when you’re still trying to sing a song. I also snapped the ulnar ligament in my left thumb halfway through the big number in the second act, which was particularly grim. I had to have that operated on. That’s probably the biggest serious mishap, but lots of silly things happen all the time. When you’re running around at that pace in that costume, you do take a stumble from time to time. You do get caught up in things; it’s impossible not to.
How did you deal with the thumb incident?
The show went on. I finished the number and then, by the time I got off stage, there was only a short period of time for a quick change before my final scene. They asked if I’d be okay, and by that time the adrenaline had kicked in. There wasn’t time to get the understudy in costume - we would’ve had to stop the show instead - so I went on and did the last scene. Luckily there was no need to pick up any children or spin anyone by the head at that point. It was just me. I finished the show and ended up having a month off while it healed. It’s quite a cool scar, which the kids love.
Do you have a favourite scene?
The big number Smell Of Rebellion in the second act is a lot of fun. It’s one which the audience very much lets you know they’re enjoying as you go along. I’m spoilt really, because most of my scenes are classroom scenes or with all of the kids, and they’re such a joy to perform with. I do love the last classroom scene, where the kids have their uprising and they defeat Miss Trunchbull. That’s always a real fun one to do.
Matilda The Musical shows at Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 3 July to Saturday 8 September.
Roald Dahl is famed for his larger-than-life characters - and they don’t come any more formidable than Miss Trunchbull, the headmistress of Crunchem Hall Primary School, who detests children to her core. A ‘tyrannical monster’, she spends her days intimidating the ‘revolting children’ in her charge - force-feeding them cake and swinging them around the playground by their pigtails.
Historically played by a man, it’s Welsh actor Craige Els who’s charged with bringing this eccentric and bloodthirsty character to life on the Hippodrome stage.
What’s On recently caught up with Craige to find out more about his role...
What’s the best thing about playing Miss Trunchbull?
The role itself is obviously fantastic. It’s a wonderful challenge and a wonderful responsibility to be playing such a notorious villain. Dennis’ script is a joy to perform every night, and I think most of all, I get to work alongside my fantastic tiny little co-stars, who are exceptional in every way. All the adults in the cast would agree that it’s them who keep us going and make us laugh daily. They definitely set the bar energy-wise.
Normally it’s when a cast gets to that six-month point that the energy starts to dip and people get a bit tired. I think having a fresh influx of kids is a reminder that it is, in fact, the best job in the world. They’re all very excited, and it’s a lovely, gentle reminder halfway through a contract that it’s exciting to do.
What personal attributes do you think helped bag you the role?
I think I was the right height. You have to have a certain amount of flexibility to be able to do all of the athletic stuff that Miss Trunchbull has to do, and that was something I could definitely bring to the table. As far as everything else, I think I was just the lucky guy they picked on the day.
What research did you undertake for the role?
All of the research is there in the book itself. Roald Dahl’s descriptions are so brilliant. She’s also very masculine, which is a plus point for me, and you just work through it all in rehearsals. You find the places in the show where feminine touches can creep in, but more often than not, rather than just approaching her as ‘playing a woman’, I try to approach her as ‘playing Miss Trunchbull’. Not necessarily gender specific but more of an ogress.
Tell us about your Trunchformation...
We have a fantastic wigs & wardrobe team, and we’ve now got the transformation down to about half an hour. I do the make-up myself, and then the wigs team come in and put the wig on. Then I slip into the fat suit, and the rest just gets draped over me until she’s complete.
Do you have a pre-show warm-up, to get you into the right mindset to play Miss Trunchbull?
Before the costume goes on, we do a full company warm-up and I do my own vocal warm-up, to try and get myself into the right place for her voice. Then once the costume’s on, I guess there’s about 20 minutes at the start of the show when everyone else is on stage but I’m not. It’s quite handy spending that time alone because in my head she’s a solitary character, quite introvert and complicated, so it’s nice to spend that time alone to check over my lines and get into the right place mentally.
How do you re-find yourself post-show?
The end of the show is so euphoric. The bows at the end on the scooters are all very upbeat and very happy. Once you receive the applause from the audience, that tends to lift you out of any dark humour you might be in. Any residual Trunch is gone by that point.
What’s been the most difficult aspect of her character to master?
I suppose that having played the role for such a long time, the biggest challenge is to ensure that she stays within the parameters of reality and doesn’t become too grotesque; that I never send her up, and that she remains rooted in truth. That’s the biggest challenge; to make sure she stays who she’s meant to be.
And have there ever been any mishaps?
There have been a few. I’ve had warts that have fallen off, and I bit off the hair from one of my moles once, which was particularly unpleasant when you’re still trying to sing a song. I also snapped the ulnar ligament in my left thumb halfway through the big number in the second act, which was particularly grim. I had to have that operated on. That’s probably the biggest serious mishap, but lots of silly things happen all the time. When you’re running around at that pace in that costume, you do take a stumble from time to time. You do get caught up in things; it’s impossible not to.
How did you deal with the thumb incident?
The show went on. I finished the number and then, by the time I got off stage, there was only a short period of time for a quick change before my final scene. They asked if I’d be okay, and by that time the adrenaline had kicked in. There wasn’t time to get the understudy in costume - we would’ve had to stop the show instead - so I went on and did the last scene. Luckily there was no need to pick up any children or spin anyone by the head at that point. It was just me. I finished the show and ended up having a month off while it healed. It’s quite a cool scar, which the kids love.
Do you have a favourite scene?
The big number Smell Of Rebellion in the second act is a lot of fun. It’s one which the audience very much lets you know they’re enjoying as you go along. I’m spoilt really, because most of my scenes are classroom scenes or with all of the kids, and they’re such a joy to perform with. I do love the last classroom scene, where the kids have their uprising and they defeat Miss Trunchbull. That’s always a real fun one to do.
Matilda The Musical shows at Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 3 July to Saturday 8 September.