SPECIAL MAGIC IN CHILDREN'S PLAY `MATILDA'

"My idea of a perfect school is one that has no children in it at all."

Many a kid may share that view, but it is, to say the least, an unusual one for a headmistress to express so vehemently. But then Agatha Trunchbull is, to say the last, an unusual headmistress (principal, for those of you not acquainted with a rather different kind of school system).

And boy-howdy! does Tina Schaefer (St. Louis) ever make that character fit her name to the proverbial "T~"! Thank goodness such creatures are now rare to schooldom, or education might be in a far worse mess than the complainers claim. From combat boots to riding crop and steel-rimmed glasses, she is every school child's worst nightmare -- but never mind -- she meets her match, with a bit of magic thrown in to aid the well-justified mischief of a couple of her 5-year-olds.

As for parents and siblings -- heaven help anyone stuck with those our Matilda drew!

But wait -- let's backtrack just a bit. We're talking about "Matilda," Sharon Bebout's stage adaptation of Roald Dahl's best-selling children's novel, now being presented by University Players in the Forrest H. Rose Theatre of the Language Arts Building. Matinee performances for schoolchildren Tuesday through Saturday are sold out, but a 7 p.m. public performance is set for Friday, so the "kids" in all of us will have a chance to chant "School Days, Rule Days..." and have a share in the conniving innocence of childhood once more.

Dennis C. Seyer's simple, clear set featuring a window for those tempting April breezes, the traditional blackboard (on which, near the end of the play, appears a mysterious message), and a tiny roll-on second set provides a range for a world of imaginative reality.

Bebout, herself the mother of two, knows her audiences, and has neatly trimmed her script and its action to move fluidly in that realm of magic and give-it-to-us-straight that makes childhood a special place, even for adults to nibble around the edges of.

College students, having only recently "escaped" (they'd like to think) that realm, get a welcome if difficult chance to jump back into it, and Bebout, ably assisted by Subrina Robinson (Malden) and others of the technical staff, give them just the right nudge back toward that still-ajar door of childhood. Kudos to all!

Now -- back to Matilda. How any little girl, genius or no, could be born to such non-parents and have such a stinking brother -- all obnoxious and disgusting to the nth degree, is almost beyond belief. If Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood and brother Michael -- stuffed to the gills by Marty Strohmeyer (Cape Girardeau), Heather Lewis (Kansas City), and George Kralemann (Jackson) -- were not so hilarious, one would be tempted to stuff them into Lavender's pond of newts.

Back to Lavender and the newts in a minute, but first let's meet Matilda, played with aplomb by Jennifer Dau (St. Louis) to show well both the character's precocious innocence and mature sense of using her remarkable skills to promote fair play. (The fact that Dau is considerably taller than some others in the cast, notably her beloved teacher, presented an extra challenge for Bebout's direction.)

Matilda's resourcefulness in getting even with her father for his "put downs" provides some funny moments, but perhaps no funnier than that of her friend Lavender, done with neat mischief by Kelly Sturtevant (Dardanelle, Ark.) who manages to scare the bejabbers out of the redoubtable Miss Trunchbull by putting a newt (call it a frog or lizard if you like) in her drinking water.

But then Matilda, whose devotion to her teacher Miss Honey, played with proper sweetness by Anne Sturtevant (Dardanelle), discovers and unleashes magic powers she did know she had.

Well, now, to be honest, she gets a bit of help with her "magic" from the Narrator, played by Justin Heinrich (Milwaukee, Wis.), who has some magic of his own -- he can be seen and heard by the audience, but by none of the characters in the play.

The gentleness and kindness of Miss Honey and the Narrator offset to a great degree the unpleasantness of Miss Trunchbull and the Wormwoods, and keep the children's "fair play" mischief in proper check.

In addition to Lavender, Matilda's cleverly-acted classmates are Madalina Capra (Cape Girardeau), Susan Essner (Cape Girardeau), Tim Arbeiter (Cape Girardeau), Subrina Robinson (Malden), Jenny Adams (Cape Girardeau), and George Kralemann (doubling roles as Michael and Eric and eloquently suffering the indignity of being jounced about by his ears when he fails to answer one of Trunchbull's questions correctly).

Is Matilda doomed forever to live with her greedy-gut parents? Will Mr. Wormwood's crooked business dealings catch up with him? Is Miss Honey doomed to teach forever under the sarcastic tongue of Miss Trunchbull? Will Trunchbull continue her hateful reign as headmistress? Does the story have a happy ending? And who is the Narrator, really?

"Matilda" knows, and you can have a happy time finding the answers for yourself Friday night, when magic touches everyone who attends this delightful play.