Charlie and Chocolate Factory: Roald Dahl’s classic brings sugar and spice to Her Majesty’s Theatre
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl’s endearingly mischievous book about an oddball confectioner, has been turned into a toothsome stage delight for kiddies and kidults alike at Her Majesty’s Theatre.
Entertainment
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This new stage adaptation of Roald Dahl’s endearingly mischievous book about an oddball confectioner is a toothsome delight for kiddies and kidults alike.
It’s a musical that celebrates all that’s twisted and macabre in Dahl’s story. When things go wrong in the Wonka factory the result is as grisly as it is hilarious.
Augustus Gloop, for example, the Bavarian beefcake who topples into a river of chocolate milk, is menaced by impish Oompa Lumpas armed with carving knives.
Veruca Salt ends up dismembered by squirrels at the end of an otherwise charming ballet-pantomime. And the demise of Violet Beauregard involves large quantities of blueberry guts.
The kids in the audience, of course, eat up the mayhem like candy.
It helps that the doomed children on Wonka’s tour are played by adult actors. Only the cheerfully optimistic Charlie Bucket (Lenny Thomas on opening night) is an actual pre-teen.
US-import Paul Slade Smith looks very dapper as the maniacal Willie Wonka. And Tony Sheldon adds a dash of folksy humour as the yarn-spinning Grandpa Joe.
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The show’s brightest stars, however, are the puppet Oompa Lumpas, who come on like a demon chorus, grinning madly and threatening all kinds of mischief.
This touring production is a stripped-back version of the 2017 Broadway show and, yes, it can sometimes feel a bit compromised.
The sets are fairly basic and it relies heavily on a large video wall for scene backdrops.
But Marc Shaiman’s cheery vaudeville-style tunes keep things jogging along nicely. And the merry knockabout energy of the cast ensure a glorumptiously good time will be had by all.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
3.5 stars
Details: Her Majesty’s Theatre, until November 3
Reviewer: Andrew Fuhrmann
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