Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Chocolate Tears

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics Scott Wittman, book by David Greig after Roald Dahl

Dramacube Productions, Twickenham Purple B Cast at Hampton Hill Theatre until 23^rd March

Review by Gill Martin

It’s a recipe for success.  Toe-tapping live music, exuberant ensemble, hilarious comedy characters, crackling script and….chocolate.  You couldn’t pack more scrumptious calories into one production without inducing a diabetic fit.

Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Willy Wonka, the crazy character imagined in Roald Dahl’s internationally famous novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, no doubt inspired by his boyhood job as a taster for Cadbury, when he fantasised about working in a chocolate inventing room.  For chocoholics – and there were few exceptions in this pre-Easter sweetie-chomping audience – this was irresistible entertainment.

We joined Dramacube’s award-winning Youth Theatre in this tasty Broadway and West End musical, based on the much-loved novel and hit movie.

Hampton Hill Theatre was a mass of swirling, shimmering colour where set designer Hannah Calarco and costume designer Natasha Boyle fused their talents to create a fabulous confection.

Rory Cubbin, musical director and choreographer, injected the youthful cast with tempo and pace throughout the two hour show, which was directed by Matthew Bunn

Charlie Bucket (Rosie Preedy) was a delight, confidently portraying a child brought up in poverty with his widowed mother (Rose Botha) – top marks for her beautiful singing – and four bed-bound grandparents.  Existing on a diet of pre-loved veg, with protein provided by the odd snail on limp cabbage, the family could only dream of affording a chocolate treat from Willy Wonka’s mysterious factory.    

Eccentric chocolatier Mr Wonka (Grace Chenery) has a brittle carapace but a soft centre when it comes to showing five lucky winners of gold tickets around his gloriously nutty empire.

The fortunate five include Charlie and an obnoxious quartet: Augustus Gloop (Alanna Pearman) a bulging Bavarian with yodelling chums in dirndl and lederhosen; Californian Pop Gum Queen Violet (Tabitha Gooding) who sparkled in midnight blue sequins and could well play a young Meghan Markle when The Crown has its next casting; Mike Teavee (Emilia Taylor), a device-addicted geek who can’t raise his eyes from his screen; and a spoilt Russian brat Veruca (Alexa Solhekol) … all chaperoned by their equally dysfunctional parents.

Without plot-spoiling too much, things don’t go well.   Health and safety are not Mr Wonka’s strongest suit.  His army of Oompa Loompas, who looked as if Guantanamo Bay internees had fallen into a vat of orange dye with Crime Scene Investigators, failed to protect their young visitors from explosive industrial accidents.

Producer Stephen Leslie is justifiably proud of his Purple B Cast on stage on Saturday evening.  ‘Our actors have shown great adaptability and teamwork,’ he says.  ‘…resilience and maturity navigating adult scripts; courage and confidence rehearsing without the security of backing vocals; plus, amazing stamina being able to take part in a two-hour show.  As Willy Wonka would say, we are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.’

One young theatre goer, Millie (nearly nine) gave her verdict on the show: ‘Delicious.  Fantastic!’ she beamed.  But then she is biased.   She adores chocolate … …

Gill Martin, March 2024

Photography by Anna Tarazevich and Bomi Cooper