Dennis and The Dazzling Dentistry Facility

A visit to the dentist is often a  painful experience and usually very  costly. Dennis and The Dazzling  Dentistry Facility,  written and  directed by Connor Gale, is a  clever  satirical play inspired by the  Willie Wonka and The Chocolate Factory films . Set in Melbourne, it mocks the recent privatisation of the dental industry and shines light on the widening  financial gap between  the rich and poor.

Dennis Decay (Henry Stephenson), a street wise character who  cannot afford to repair his teeth, lives with his poor mother (Jessica David) and his elderly Grandpa Poe (Madeleine Lacy)  who used to work for  the reclusive Dr Devin Dentin DDS (Connor Gale), once  a world-famous dentist who invented amazing and  unique hygiene products. When Dennis Decay learns of an International  golden toothbrush competition to visit Dr Dentin’s facility - he hopes this will give him an opportunity  to get quality dental care - with  luck on his side he wins a chance.

Colourful  twisted recreations from the original 1971 film (Dir. Mel Stuart) include  the German character Augustus Gloop - Konstantin Krank (Lucas Hayde)  who falls into a stream of flavoured Listerine. Tooth Worth,  the undercover Colgate spy (Lucas Hayde), is a take on Slugworth. Ruby Wire (Jessica David), a discombobulated  Texan  tech wiz reminiscent of Mike TV . Vanessa Pepper  a blue blood (Madeleine Lacy)  is a farcical reminder of privilege and the filthy rich and a clever fusion  of Veruca Salt and Violet Beauregard.

In the second Willy Wonka movie ( Tim Burton 2005) all is revealed about Wonka’s traumatic  childhood and the hardships he faced with his  father who was a tyrant of a dentist . Connor Gale has taken creative liberties and  pokes fun at the burgeoning dental crisis in Australia  with  farce and comedy in this hilarious reconstruction.

The dialogue is rich and colourful and to quote from the first movie “Come with me and you’ll be, in a world of pure imagination…”.  Gale is an impeccable  talent and has cast a bunch of colourful energetic wonderful  creatives to join him.

This show is  part of the One Act Play Festival.

Flora Georgiou

Photographer: Sian Dowler