West End's MATILDA Will Welcome New Children to Cast

Now in its fifth year in London's West End, the Royal Shakespeare Company's award-winning production of Matilda the Musical has announced that Zaris-Angel Hator, Clara Read and Emily-May Stephenson are to join Evie Hone in the title role from 15 March 2016.

As part of the celebrations for the centenary of Roald Dahl's birth this year, Matilda the Musical will feature in Southbank Centre's Imagine Children's Festival (10 - ­21 February) on 18 February when the entirety of Roald Dahl's novel Matilda will be read aloud by members of the public and special invited guests, including Lisa Davina Phillip as Mrs Phelps. To mark the unique Dahl in a Day event, a member of the cast of Matilda the Musical will also perform a song from the show in the Clore Ballroom.

The production's Olivier and Tony award-winning set designer, Rob Howell has created a unique installation which will be suspended in Southbank Centre's Clore Ballroom throughout the festival. The 'Crunchem Catchem Spellem' installation will consist of a giant satchel with brightly coloured lettered tiles exploding from within.

Exclusive backstage photography of Matilda the Musical along with Rob Howell's costume sketches and set model box will also be featured as part of the major new theatre exhibition Curtain Up! at London's Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). The exhibition marks forty years of the Olivier Awards and celebrates the shared theatrical heritage between London and New York. Curtain Up! will open on 9 February to the public before transferring to The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in Autumn 2016.

Having swept the board at the 2012 Olivier Awards, winning a record-breaking seven awards, Matilda the Musical has gone on to take Broadway by storm, winning four Tony Awards and a Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theater for each of the four girls sharing the title role. The New York production of Matilda the Musical, produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Dodgers, opened in March 2013 at Broadway's Shubert Theatre.

Capturing the imagination of young and old alike, Matilda the Musical has now received 56 awards in Stratford-upon-Avon, London, New York and Australia and has been seen by more than four million people worldwide. In 2015 the London and Broadway productions were joined by the North American and Australian tours. After opening to rave reviews and a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Musical, the Australian production recently announced it will open at Melbourne's Princess Theatre from 13 March 2016 for a strictly limited season.

The young performers who will be joining the London company in the three teams who play the roles of Bruce, Lavender, Amanda and the rest of the pupils at Crunchem Hall are as follows: Nael Ameen, Henry Austin, Owen Bagnall, Oliver Crouch, Ellie-Rose Eames, Taha Elamin, Twinkle Jaiswal, Thea Lamb, Oliver Llewelyn Williams, Maxim Samartsev, Josh Shadbolt, Harrison Wilding, Ynez Williams, Maisy-May Woods-Smeeth and Dora Yolland.

Leo Ayres, Fifi Bloomsbury-Khier, Tilly Cook, Bronte Cosgrave, Ellie Dadd, Carla Dixon, Sophia Keaveney, Joe Sheridan, Jacob Smith and Jamie Wilding will continue in the roles of Bruce, Lavender, Amanda and the pupils at Crunchem Hall.

Matilda The Musical is produced in the West End by the Royal Shakespeare Company with André Ptaszynski and Denise Wood as Executive Producers. The production was developed with the support of Company Dramaturg Jeanie O'Hare and the RSC Literary Department.

Matilda The Musical is written by playwright Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by comedian, musician and composer Tim Minchin, and direction 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 the special effects and illusions are by Paul Kieve.