Matilda the Musical kicks off the London film festival as Netflix banks on Roald Dahl
The books of my life
Sam Byers: ‘JM Coetzee made me vegetarian’
July 2022
Observer book of the week
Teller of the Unexpected by Matthew Dennison review – the tall tales of a big kid
Roald Dahl’s early years are illuminated in a compact biography mostly purged of unsavoury details
June 2022
Matilda musical movie starring Emma Thompson to open London film festival
World premiere of the film version of the Roald Dahl-based musical also stars Lashana Lynch, Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough
Names in the news
Hwang Dong-hyuk’s real-life Squid Game can’t rival the fictional horrors
Rebecca Nicholson
If there’s no playing to the death, it’s just a bunch of adults playing hopscotch and marbles
Stream team
Matilda: the cake-based torture sticks in the mind – but this delightful film is worth rewatching
All 90s children are haunted by Miss Trunchbull – but revisiting Danny DeVito’s 1996 film is a zany and joyful experience
May 2022
I’m addicted to the spoken word – I blame the Roald Dahl cassettes of my childhood
Nell Frizzell
Whether it’s a true-crime podcast while cleaning or an audiobook while running, I can’t get enough of the human voice. Is it because Matilda used to ease me to sleep?
April 2022
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar review – Roald Dahl magic for the social media age
Perth theatre A talented cast and inventive creatives adapt a classic story of transformation into youth theatre at its best
March 2022
Roald Dahl’s the Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar review – the ego has landed in cheery adaptation
Magical illusions and mind-reading tricks add to the fizzy performances in a colourful production with clever parallels
January 2022
Wes Anderson to make new Roald Dahl adaptation with Benedict Cumberbatch
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, about a magical gambler, is the latest project to arise from Netflix’s purchase of author’s catalogue
December 2021
Are my kids getting carried away in their flights from reality?
Sophie Brickman
I asked a child psychologist if I should be worried about the extent of their make-believe worlds
November 2021
How we made
‘It had to be dark’ – how we made Matilda the Musical
‘We didn’t give Matilda any songs because she was shy. Then we realised: it’s a fricking musical – the protagonist needs to sing!
October 2021
Timothée Chalamet’s Wonka: is it so wrong to find him scrumdiddlyumptious?
Stuart Heritage
The Eva Wiseman column
The Netflix/Roald Dahl deal is rich with potential spin-offs
Eva Wiseman
September 2021
Business leader
Stagecoach takeover could mark end of a profitable era for bus and train tycoons
Names in the news
Roald Dahl’s universe might not be a golden ticket for the writer’s fans
Rebecca Nicholson
Netflix’s Roald Dahl universe would be a golden ticket to despair
Stuart Heritage
Netflix acquires works of Roald Dahl as it escalates streaming wars
August 2021
Books that made me
Damon Galgut: ‘After reading Roald Dahl, the world never looked the same’
The Booker-longlisted author on the dazzling wordplay of Nabokov, feeling bemused by Haruki Murakami and struggling to finish Dickens
June 2021
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at 50: a clunky film that Roald Dahl rightly hated
The years haven’t been kind to Gene Wilder and his underplayed performance as the sadistic chocolatier in a cheap and poorly made adaptation
