LONDON (AFP) - A musical based on the Roald Dahl children’s book Matilda has claimed a record-breaking seven Olivier Awards, the most prestigious accolade in British theatre. One prize - Best Actress in a Musical - was jointly awarded to Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram, Sophia Kiely and Eleanor Worthington-Cox, the four girls who play the title role in Matilda the Musical. Worthington-Cox, 10, also made history by becoming the youngest ever winner of an Olivier. She described her triumph as “pretty cool”.
The show also scooped Best New Musical and Best Actor in a Musical for Bertie Carvel. Carvel praised his inexperienced co-stars, saying:
“I’m proud of my part in it but frankly I’m proud of every inch of it, it’s really witty, inventive, it’s the kind of theatre I want to go and see which is the kind of theatre I want to be in,” he added. Best Director winner Matthew Warchus also paid tribute to his leading ladies. “People often say to me ‘Matthew, which is your favourite Matilda?’ and as you saw earlier it’s a ridiculous question, there are four little miracles there,” he said via video-link from New York.