Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a feel-good tale and a story of triumph over adversity, which seems a very great choice after a difficult couple of weeks, with masked audiences at its first couple of performance given lots of laughs.

Bright and uplifting, fun costuming (Linda Lowry, Kim Parker, Pat Francis and Karen Francis) and a set with some lovely surprises, designed by Bronwyn White and Karen Francis, are lit with lots of colour and verve by Clint Gerard and Karen Francis, to create a world of wonder.

The title role of Charlie is played with great charm and a wonderful sense of belief by Luis Proctor, a recent Scottish emigree with a delightful accent, in his theatrical debut. Great work from this young man, who works well alongside Scott Hansen, who brings life and energy to our other leading man, the enigmatic and interesting Willy Wonka.

Fans of the book or the movies will remember the other terrible children who win Golden Tickets for the factory tour. Played by adults and older teens in this production, we meet Thomas Hennessy as the greedy Augustus Gloop, Emily Tamplin as spoiled Russian ballet-girl Veruca Salt, Tannah Pridmore as self-confident gum chewing Instagram star Violet Beauregarde and Braeden Geuer as rude, screen-obsessed Mike Teavee. They are well-supported by Sky Kettle, Alex White, Jioji Nawanawa and Kristie Corbishley as their respective parents.

Charlie’s family, though delightfully odd, are a believable family unit with a lovely, genuine performance from Asha Perry as his mother and appropriately larger-than life characterisations from Azza Gee as Grandpa Jo and Joanna Wilson Smale, Shevonne Scudamore and Aiden Thomas as his other grandparents. Bailey Bridgman-Peters appears briefly as Charlie’s father in a sweet dream sequence.

TV sequences, which allowed us to meet the ticket winners in Act One, were very nicely brought to life by Kallum Herschell as TV host Jerry and Ella Thompson as enthusiastic reporter Cherry.

A busy ensemble of over fifty people bring townspeople, oompa-loompas, squirrels and a variety of other characters to life, singing with gusto and executing the fun and varied choreography from Caitlin Wainwright and Rhiannon Francis with energy and enthusiasm.

Musical director Vanitha Hart leads a particularly slick eighteen-piece band. Audience members near me were convinced that they were hearing a professional recording.

Good fun, good vibes and a great message of hope – this was a show that entertained and brought joy to shut-down weary audiences. Well done for getting this show up and on time, in challenging circumstances.

Kimberley Shaw