MIDDLE SCHOOL. YOU’RE not old enough to be taken seriously, but you’re too big to go on play dates. Bullying is rife: everyone is horrible to everyone else, but everyone has valid reasons: they’re chrysalises, growing into adulthood as best they can. Under the direction of Vicky Friedman, the popular franchise Diary of a Wimpy Kid comes to moving and enthusiastic life at Theatre on the Square in Sandton, until 3 May 2025.

And while the material is rich in corniness, it is the performance of the children themselves that shines so bright, you will have tears in your eyes by the end of it. Jayden Fittinghoff takes the role of Greg Heffley, the star of the tale, and sails into the spotlight with the kind of aplomb you don’t always see in young adult performers. He projects his personality and dexterity on the lyrics and the material like a natural, and the cast follows suit.

The work, featuring highly polished tweens, can sometimes skirt off in the direction of shrillness, the story’s impact is kept lucid and upbeat. Rebecca Damelin in the role of Claire, when it comes to touching an elderly piece of discarded cheese which takes on mythic horror proportions, absolutely knocks it out of the park with her voice and persona, in a small, but extraordinary cameo.

And then there is both Rowley (Eli-Amani Kureva) and Fregley (Blake Richardson), with all the smelly and lewd awkwardness of boys at large who are on the very edge of growing into men. Both youngsters yield remarkable performances, sophisticated in their sense of the revolting, the pathetic, and ultimately the victorious in the mixed sense of likeability that they present.

The work, replete with not-yet incipient blackheads and training bras aplenty, has a strong moral back bone without being squeaky clean of all of fart jokes and squishy snot ideas that are endemic to being not quite a child anymore but not yet a teenager, and performed, by a cast which is itself, adolescent, is nothing short of a magical success.

As a story, it bears comparison with Dear Evan Hansen, recently staged at Montecasino. Wimpy Kid doesn’t, however, teeter over to the dark side of being young in a complex world. There are all the issues of what a best friend means, of being broken and getting fixed, of the lust for popularity and striving to be okay with yourself in the world; Wimpy Kid, targeted at children not yet on the cusp of high school, looks at those issues with an overriding sense of positivity.

Devoid of gimmicks, the work features a largely audio-visual set and dead-pan Americanised voice overs, which add to the feel of the environment evoked, whether it is a geography classroom or a nightmare in Greg’s bedroom. All in all, this piece is a balm to sensibilities and a thumbs up to lots of delicious young talent in this country.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is directed by Vicky Friedman and co-produced by Vicky Friedman and Daphne Kuhn. Based on the eponymous book by Kevin de Aguila, which is, in turn based on the series by Jeff Kinney and the film adaptations by 20th Century Fox Films, the production features creative input by Dale Ray (musical direction); Wilhelm Disbergen (design); Chloe Wittstock (costumes and props); Tannah Levick (assistant choreographer) and Sarah Richard (accent coach). Under company manager Erin Blieden, it is stage managed by Regina Dube assisted by Melidah Thakadu and is technically managed by Loftus Mohale assisted by Reggie Mathebe. It is performed by an adult cast comprising Sechaba Ramphele and Sarah Richard, with voice overs by Virtuous Kandemiri and Dale Ray.

It features two child casts; this review is premised on a performance by Cast A: Yusuf Abrahams, Rethabile Barnes, Charles Belasyse-Smith, Jaxon Cohen, Rebecca Damelin, Jayden Fittinghoff, Joshua Howard, Tshimologo Jack, Eli-Amani Kureva, Khensani Tshegofatso Manganyi, Tshiamo Molefe, Tatum Murray-Smith, Blake Richardson, Rethabile Seabi, Asha Vorster and Emily Madison Wierenga.

Cast B comprises: Ruby Cameron-Smith, Pia Daya, Tabatha Howard, Erich Jordaan, Efosa K, Boikanyo Lekasapa, Ciara Leon, Livia Lurie, Mpilo Mabusela, Noluthando Mpanza, Khylan Reddy, Raphael Spira, Christian Tallarico, Moriah Tucker, Raquel Vaz Peixoto and Owen Warrender. It is onstage at Theatre on the Square in Sandton until 4 May 2025.