After leaving college, Howell worked for two and a half years with the Royal Shakespeare Company as a resident design assistant. He met Matthew Warchus there, who years later asked him whether he would be interested in working on Matilda the Musical.[1]
Howell has won fifteen Olivier Awards for Best Set Design. The most recent of these was for his work on the West End production of Matilda the Musical.[4] He has received 2013 Tony Award nominations for his work on the Broadway production of Matilda the Musical, for both Best Scenic Design of a Musical and Best Costume Design of a Musical.[5] His set design for Matilda the Musical was described:
Howell's unique design for Matilda the Musical saw the entire Cambridge theatre, from foyer to stage, transformed into Roald Dahl's imaginative world. The cast climb on giant alphabet soup letters, perform in health and safety defying scenes on wooden spoons and clamber over the imposing thighs of Miss Trunchbull, in her fearsome school... [the] eye-catching and uniquely eccentric design provides a fittingly colourful and exuberant setting.[6]
