This week saw the launch of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory in London’s West End. So it comes as no surprise that Superbreak’s theatre Guru David Thomas was right in the action, and one of the first so see the show! Whilst remaining an air of mystery…David delves a little into what you can expect from the show itself…
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Theatre Royal Drury Lane, 25th June 2013
“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” but the Bucket family are so far below the poverty line that their only means of survival is scavenging and story-telling. And the only story young Charlie bucket wants to hear is the fabulous tale of Willy Wonka, the inspirational inventor-confectioner, whose diabolically delicious and insanely irresistible candy creations have the entire planet craving for more.
I cannot tell you of the adventures that befall Charlie as he finds himself inexorably drawn into Wonka’s world of chocolaty enchantment –you will have to discover them for yourselves in Sam Mendes’ stunning production that catapults you into a realm of the senses where colour and sound (and flavours!) engulf you with a deliciously wicked wishfulness (please can I eat the scenery, Mummy???)
And yet, for all its child’ll-like wonders, this is a show that’s written with big kids (and boomers) in mind more than little nippers, so unaccompanied adults do NOT need to borrow children from opportunistic friends and relatives (or manufacture them out of the pulped motoring sections of the Sunday Papers and egg-boxes Cheryl and Dave of Balham) in order to be admitted to the fantastetical world of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
