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A problematic production that, although containing dynamic elements and talented performers, still misses the essence of Dahl’s work.Summary
Rating
Ok
It’s no secret amongst my family and friends: Matilda is without doubt my favourite musical of all time. I’ve seen it 15 times. So this production of another Roald Dahl classic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was really going to have to go some to compete. But I just love that story so it was off to a fighting start!
The show sells itself as ‘a world of pure imagination’ drawing from Dahl’s original book and the Warner Brothers’ film. However, despite some quality moments, truthfully it doesn’t capture the essence of either, nor does it successfully reinvent the story. It often lacks creative imagination, relying on momentary sleight of hand and obvious projection choices to suggest what should be Wonka’s breath-taking world.
Undeniably, there’s a talented cast. Amelia Minto as Charlie is an excellent young performer who brings consistency and confidence to the part. But the role is written as an overblown, inexact interpretation of Dahl’s character. Charlie is not a malnourished, fatigued-but-noble youth that values everything they have because they have nothing. Instead she’s saccharine-sweet, healthy and exuberant. There’s then no room for growth in the character when she is blessed with a life-changing opportunity. Indeed, the crucial finding of the Golden Ticket is sped over, without a spare beat to identify the enormity of the event. It’s also off-putting that the Charlie I know and love as a poor but fastidious child hangs out in the dump. You can almost smell the bins instead of cocoa. There’s lost opportunity in that sequence for some real magic, converting objects into other things imaginatively, as perhaps a puppeteer might.
Michael D’Cruze does a valiant job as Grandpa Joe and achieves a delightful relationship with Charlie. Meanwhile, Gareth Snook’s Willy Wonka certainly has vigour, particularly when singing, but the characterisation needs nuance, instead spending considerable time in the angry or crazy range, without really capturing an astute, vulnerable man hiding an enormous secret.
The first act is very expositional and things really only pick up in the second half. Throughout, the live band (under Music Supervisor and Orchestrator David Shrubsole) is terrific. There are some tremendous voices in the cast, particularly Marisha Morgan as Violet and Christopher Powell as Mr Salt. The songs, however, are not entirely memorable, and those from the movie have the most impact. Some of the design works well, such as the TV room, and the nut room with its giant squirrel is fun.
There are some quite problematic aspects to the production, significantly Mrs Bucket (Leonie Spilsbury) using BSL to sign her role. What’s the point of this? If the whole show had integrated signing throughout that would be fabulous, but for only one character (who is largely offstage) from the entire cast to do it feels like virtue signalling. Then there are contradictory depictions of other characters. To (rightly) dodge issues whereby the Oompa Loompas are either black slaves or very small people, they’ve been reframed as robots, but again inconsistently. Their movements are initially robotic but in subsequent dance routines they become highly flexible in a human way. Despite these attempts to be thoughtful, the show still retains outrageous Bavarian stereotyping in Augustus Gloop and his mother. How is that then OK to overlook? And a throwaway line about poverty being a terrible thing is horribly inappropriate, no matter how much it intends to be funny.
This is a bright and dynamic production, verging on panto-esque at times, but lacking in nuance. It’s probably very well-intentioned but at the moment just doesn’t have the subtlety and range to do Dahl’s story justice.
Book by: David Greig
Music by: Marc Shaiman
Lyrics by: Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman
Directed by: James Brining
Music Supervisor and Orchestration by: David Shrubsole
Musical Direction by: Ellen Campbell
Set & Costume Design by: Simon Higlett
Lighting design by: Tim Mitchell
Choreography by: Emily Jane Boyle
Sound design by: Mike Walker
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Musical runs at New Wimbledon Theatre until Saturday 1 July. It then continues tour the UK until February 2024. Further information and full tour dates can be found here.
