Cautionary Women

Normally, Souls, the parasitic extraterrestrials in Stephenie Meyer's Invasion of the Body Snatchers   The Host , are altruistic and Zen-like creatures. They are painfully honest, so much so they have done away with cash registers on sheer trust in one another. Shedding blood is alien to them. Most humans are imbeciles in comparison; if our lives were not that special, we wouldn't think twice of relinquishing our bodies to them.  But The Seeker is an anomaly. Intent on wiping away the last pockets of human resistance, she will not dither about murder if it served the purpose. 

David Leonard as Agatha Trunchbull in Matilda the Musical , opening April 11 on Broadway. Photo via Theatre Breaks Roald Dahl's worst meanies are raging pedophobes. Headmistress Agatha Trunchbull, the hulking villain in Matilda , loathes children only less than the Grand High Witch  does. Unlike the sorceress, however, Trunchbull has non-magical, very real tools to express her animus. (The magic is left to Matilda.) She keeps, for instance, a medieval torture chamber to punish wayward schoolchildren—and she can get really creative with what is 'wayward.' And as a professional hammer thrower, Trunchbull can take her villainy to new heights.   Bertie Carvel transforms into Trunchbull for Matilda the Musical on West End and will reprise the role when the play transfers to Broadway on April 11. Pam Ferris got into the role in the 1996 movie .