Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen’s 12-year-old Kayla Nicol lands dream role in Matilda Jr musical

The young Aberdeen star is delighted to be playing her dream character in her first leading role - even if Kayla does not share Matilda's love of books.

Kayla Nicol is playing Matilda in Giz Giz Youth's Matilda Jnr production
Kayla Nicol is playing Matilda in Giz Giz Youth's Matilda Jr production. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

Moments of joy are often held tightly but not all of us dare to keep pursuing them.

But what would it look like to chase happiness?

On January 27 and 28, you can get a front-row seat to young Kayla Nicol doing just that.

The Aberdonian – who is playing the lead role of Matilda in Giz Giz Youth Theatre’s production Matilda Jr – found her passion in theatres and on brightly lit stages.

And she is not letting go.

Kayla Nicol
Kayla Nicol is playing Matilda in the Giz Giz Theatre Youth production Matilda Jr in Aberdeen. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

Kayla said: “I always went to see shows and I’d see the people on stage and I’d think ‘I want to be one of them one day.’

“Their talent and singing made me happy. I just wanted to be like that.”

‘I’ve always dreamed of being Matilda’

On top of joining two dance groups, four years ago the 12-year-old became part of Giz Giz Youth Theatre.

This year she applied for her first leading role and landed her dream character Matilda – the book-loving girl with superpowers.

Kayla.
Kayla said she fell in love with the songs to the musical. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

When asked what the musical based on Roald Dahl’s beloved novel was about, she said: “It’s about a girl that loves to read books and her parents don’t listen to her or like her.

“And she goes to school and she has a bad teacher. She’s very mean, she’s a bully but she has another teacher Miss Honey who is much nicer and Matilda just has lots of friends.

“And Matilda finds strength reading books and it makes her happy.”

But it was not the book or bookworm character that made Matilda a favourite. In fact, Kayla admitted she is not a big reader herself.

Kayla Nicol is playing Matilda in Giz Giz Theatre Group Matilda Jr in Aberdeen.
Kayla admitted she and Matilda were quite opposite to each other in some areas. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

Rather it was the songs by Tim Minchin in the award-winning Matilda the Musical she fell in love with.

“I’ve always dreamed of being Matilda when I was younger because she has lots of songs that are famous,” she said.

“She’s really fun to play. Very opposite to me.

“I don’t really like reading books but she loves reading books. She has powers and I don’t.

“She’s quite quiet but when she’s with her friends she’s a bundle of joy. I have lots of friends and I love my friends and she does too.”

Co-director of Giz Giz Youth Theatre's production of Matilda Jr, Lauren Ritchie.
Co-director Lauren Ritchie said Kayla was a natural. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

Young Aberdeen star’s moving innocence made her a natural fit for Matilda role

When speaking with Kayla it is hard to miss her endearing joy.

A quality which co-director for the production, Lauren Ritchie from Giz Giz, said made her perfect for the role.

She said: “Kayla has been with us for four years and we have seen her grow up and gain a lot of confidence and it’s just in the last few years she’s pushed herself forward a little bit.

“So when we were holding auditions we did have quite a few potentials for Matilda but there’s just something about her innocence and just the way she portrays it that is really quite heartwarming.

Kayla Nicol at Aberdeen Academy of Dance.
Lauren Ritchie said Kayla’s portrayal of Matilda moved them. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

“Even though she doesn’t understand it herself when you watch her, she just plays it so naturally. It really touched us so we went with her.”

While Kayla expects to be a bit nervous before the show, she said she is excited to perform in front of her friends, parents, brothers and grandparents.

Beyond that, the young star is in high demand.

In June she will be going to Prague for the Dance World Cup in June with Kerry Watson Performing Arts and then taking part in another Giz Giz production Legally Blonde in July.

‘Our kids are talented and deserve an audience’

When asked why people should book tickets to see Matilda Jr, Kayla quickly responded: “Because everybody is a great performer and great singer.

“I think everybody is just really talented and you should definitely come and see it.”

To that Lauren added the production was a chance for 30 of their younger members, aged eight to 18 to shine.

Giz Giz Youth Theatre group is rehearsing Matilda Jr at Aberdeen Academy of Dance.
There are 30 young people aged eight to 18 in the Giz Giz Youth Theatre production. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

She said: “Our kids have worked so hard. They’re very talented and they deserve an audience to see their talent.

“It’s always hard with the arts and especially in Aberdeen with it being such a small city. All amateur productions should be supported, there’s great, great talent in Aberdeen.

“We have so many people from Aberdeen…Amy Lennox is from Aberdeen amateur dramatics. You support them now so support them when they’re younger so they’re able to thrive.”

Matilda Jr is being performed at the International School Aberdeen on January 27 and 28. Visit Aberdeen Performing Arts’ website to book a ticket.

Conversation