Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

This classic Roald Dahl story is always a favourite and needs no introduction, but what it does require is imagination and fearlessness in abundance to recreate this timeless piece of fiction into a stage show which meets the film led expectation of its audience and Dee Bennie-Marshall managed to do that with this technically spectacular production featuring a very talent cast.

The wonderful extended Bucket family Grandma Georgina, Grandma Josaphine, Grandpa George and Mrs Bucket played by Tracy Clifford, Shelley Firth, Paul Biltcliffe and Hayley Harris respectively perfectly set the scene to create Charlie’s homelife that was cash poor, but rich in love.  ‘If Your Father Were Here’ was an incredibly touching moment in the story and wonderfully conveyed by Harris supported by the Grandparents.  Anna Scarth was loud and proud as the snotty nosed vegetable seller Mrs Green.  Scarth really made this part her own and her shouty announcements wouldn’t have been out-of-place on any market stall.  Tasha Barrett (Cherry) and Grace Rafton (Geri) were smartly clad in suits made from ‘TV test card’ fabric and cleverly hung the ‘Chocolate TV’ announcements together with poise and articulate delivery.

Dahls’ tale relies on the children and their parents being thoroughly horrid so that we can see the purpose of the story and recognise that greed, stamping feet, an aggressive desire for publicity and watching too much TV whilst being thoroughly spoilt by your parents is not good for you.  And Wow! this talented group of actors really did get that point across.  What they also did was work well together – their actions and interactions weren’t just centred on their relationships with their ‘child’, but also with each other and Wonka.   Whenever they were on stage it all worked so well.  Every relationship between parent and child oozed indulgence, but also love.

The first lucky winner is the gluttonous Augustus Gloop who was comically played by Rob Cannon.  A larger-than-life character who along with his mother Mrs Gloop, Rachel Hirst Marshall, ate their way through the production not least in the wonderful ‘More of Him to Love’ which included some great Tyrolean dancing.  The spoiled, ballet dancing, Veruca Salt, was brilliantly played by Izzy Turner.  Jonathan Canon as Mr Salt allowed her to run rings round him.  Both wonderful character portrayals and Turner’s dancing in ‘The Nutcracker Suite’ was excellent – it’s not easy to be funny en pointe.

 

The ultra-competitive Violet Beauregarde, Libby Fenwick and her equally competitive father, was played with just the right amount of smarmy aggression by Adam Argent.  They both had masses of energy and some great comic moments which they carried off perfectly.  Mike Teavee, Oliver Hornby, the screen-obsessed golden ticket winner and his 1950s mother Mrs Teavee played by Claire Hookham Williams were a brilliant double act.   Hornby totally captured the teenager with attitude and Hookham Williams as the pill popping, secret drinking mother who didn’t want her baby to grow up was a hoot.  They both embraced their characters (and their characters flaws!) with gusto creating a great dynamic on stage, not least in ‘That Little Man of Mine’ which had huge energy and show biz like pizazz.

David Hookham was the perfect Grandpa Joe, great vocals, great moves and always in character.  He is a masterclass in being the doddery old man who manages to sing, skip and dance their way through a production without appearing to stop for breath – young performers take note, it takes hard work and dedication to still be able to do this over 50 years after first appearing on stage and Hookham never misses an opportunity to keep the audience entertained.   A lovely sensitive performance which always found the ‘funny’.

Holding the title role is a huge undertaking and for this production it was shared between Jack Booth and Joshua Kavanagh – I was fortunate to see both young men perform in the role and they both did wonderfully.  They brought their own sense of ‘Charlie’ to their performances.  Joshua portrayed him as a sensitive and slightly bewildered boy, conveying to the audience that his character never seemed to fully believe he’d been given this opportunity.  Booth played the titular role as a more confident Charlie, but both were charming presentations and showed that character interpretation can be different, but still full of wonder – congratulations to both boys who sang and danced their way through this huge show with great confidence.

Dan Fenwick as Willy Wonka was charismatic and charming.  Fenwick has super comedic timing and handled the very challenging dialogue excellently  which helped to portray Wonka’s larger-than-life personality.  He had a great rapport with Charlie and maintained this throughout the show.  He had great poise and presence which is needed in such a huge role   A really wonderful performance from this young actor who continues to grow and develop on stage bringing some wonderful characters to life.

Musical Direction was in the very capable hands of James Greatorex who did wonders with this relatively new score.  The 11-piece band was excellent and with some great singing by all the cast Greatorex should be very proud of the results.

The ensemble was incredible - with numerous production numbers and different roles to play they appeared continually busy with many costume changes.  The entrance of the Oompa Loompa’s had the audience in hysterics and the clever manipulation of the shows smallest characters was very well done.  With great choreography and expert dancing throughout this production really was a joy to watch.

Working closely with Director Dee Bennie-Marshall, Jon Hunt had designed and built a fabulous set with the in-house team. The whole fantastical, fun feel of the production was greatly enhanced by the bespoke projections developed by James Clare who together with Dee and Jon transported the audience to the world of their brightly coloured, beautifully presented imagination. The perfect setting to meet Willy Wonka.

Costumes were excellent and absolutely captured the characters – quite literally in the case of Voilet Beauregarde as she ballooned in real time to a huge blueberry.  This transformation looked wonderful and was very well managed by Libby Fenwick.  Well done to the Costume Team who were expertly handling the many quick changes not least getting the ensemble into the very impressive squirrel costumes.

Operated by the crew the fly lift elevator took Wonka and Charlie on a magical journey. Enhanced by the projections and stunning lighting this element of the production made audience members, young and old, gasp at the brilliant climax to this story. Very cleverly managed by cast and crew to really end the show on a high - real theatre magic

A great evening’s entertainment – Congratulations to the everyone at WWRTC for bringing this wonderful production to the Theatre Royal stage.

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