The musical, written by Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly, was a "blast of nasty fun" according to the Associated Press.

Tim Minchins and Dennis Kelly's Roald Dahl adaptation was called "the best family musical in years" in the Chicago Tribune's review. The New York Times said the production from the Royal Shakespeare Company was "the most satisfying and subversive musical ever to come out of Britain". "It would be easy to call it the best British musical since Billy Elliot, but that, I'm afraid, would be underselling it," said Richard Zoglin in TIME Magazine.