Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

An evening of pure imagination was on the cards, as Top Box took on the musical version of the Roald Dahl classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  This show features a combination of new music alongside songs from the 1971 movie which starred gene Wilder as Willy Wonka.  Top Box’s version featured an adult cast and two children’s casts – Team Candy and Team Chocolate.  On the night of my visit it was Team Chocolate on duty, but I am sure that Team Candy did an equally good job.  The show was directed by Tracy Anne Wright and James Baldwin (his third, and most personal, for Top Box), who made it a family affair with daughter Annie also in the cast! 

The show opened with Eddie Faizey’s charismatic Willy Wonka front and centre for ‘The Candy Man’, before he transforms himself into a kindly sweet shop owner for most of the remainder of the act.  This was a great performance, warm and engaging, yet turning ruthless as the second half whittling-down of the Factory visitors progresses.  Alex P played Charlie Bucket with a winning confidence and formed a very believable partnership with Wonka in sweet shop owner mode. 

Back at the Bucket residence we met Charlie’s mother, Mrs Bucket (Marianne Midgley), struggling to make ends meet all on her own and missing her long-departed husband.  Her song, ‘If Your Father Were Here’ was very movingly sung, and a judicious application of dry ice generated a nice atmosphere.  A word, too, for Ruby C and Alex B-W, who performed a charming dance as the younger versions of Mr & Mrs Bucket.  Tom Bowes was a sprightly, quick-witted Grandpa Jo, capering entertainingly about the stage as he found his feet (literally!) in ‘I’ve Got a Golden Ticket’.  Charlie’s bed-ridden grandparents Josephine (Debbie Guest), Georgina (Kate Divit), George (Jason Keley) added to the homespun feel, although my view of them was a little bit hampered by a chair that could have perhaps been placed further upstage.

As the first half of the show progressed, we met the lucky winners of the Golden Tickets.  First to appear was the lederhosen-wearing, sausage munching Augustus Gloop (Corbyn G-T), with a nice line in yodelling and accompanied by his bossy mother, Mrs Gloop (Sam Taylor.)  Next up was the balletic Veruca Salt (Darci H), who danced beautifully, when she wasn’t issuing ear-splitting demands to her father, the Russian Mafia-styled, cigar chomping Mr Gloop (Chris Stroud).  Violet Beauregarde (Ilana M-S) was a confident, bubble-gum blowing presence, accompanied by her father Mr Beauregarde (George France), always with an eye to self-publicity and sporting an impressively sparkly outfit!  Lastly, we met Mike Teevee (Ed K), a snarling brat in headphones whose mother, Mrs Teevee (Max Day) appeared to be stuck in the 1950s, as amusingly pointed out to her later in the show.  These characters were introduced by a pair of news reporters – Jerry and Cherry (Scott Cartwright and Leane Davies) – who, amusingly, became more and more bedraggled as events progressed.

As the first half came to a close, Charlie finally acquired his Golden Ticket from the cart of the the world-weary Mrs Green (Abigail Mann) and headed, along with the others, to the gates of the Chocolate Factory.  These were nicely depicted, and featured one of a number of very impressive backdrops which served really well to set both the scene and the tone of the show throughout.  They were particularly important as the characters made their way through the Chocolate Factory, and served very well in that regard. 

The depiction of the tour around the Factory, which fills the second half of the show, would be a challenge for any amateur group.  Top Box rose to that challenge by the effective use of lighting, props and background displays, and by encouraging us to use our (pure) imaginations.  This worked particularly well during a scene in which the characters traversed an invisible maze – great use of physicality by the cast alongside some well-timed sound effects served to get the action across to the audience very effectively.  Later there was a good depiction of the Great Glass Elevator as Charlie and Wonka looked down on their Kingdom and sang of ‘The View from Here’. 

As each of the ticket holders were dispatched one by one, to the barely concealed glee of Willy Wonka himself, we were treated to a series of songs from the massed ranks of the Oompa Loompas.  This was where the ensemble really came into their own, dancing and singing up a storm as they commented on the well-deserved demise of each victim.  Well done to them all.  Costumes were great too, down to the white dungarees and bright green wigs (I also really like Grandpa Joe’s brush epaulettes!)  Well done to all of the costume makers. 

Congratulations to everyone at Top Box Studios for getting 2026 off to a great start with this charming, fun version of a classic story.  I know that Top Box creative team Tracy and Georgie have lots more planned for the year, and I can’t wait to see how this hard-working pair and the talented performers under their charge progress!

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.