CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
Brighton Theatre Group has boundless ambition clearly, who in their right mind would take on so complex and demanding a show as this, let alone pull it off, but they do and they have – in spades. That said, after their recent productions of Lionel Bart’s Oliver! which gave the stunning Chichester Festival production a run for its money, well we should not be surprised. So let’s get this bit over fast, this is a sure fire, solid gold, not to be missed FIVE STAR production. If you haven’t booked then fight for a seat.
On my way out of theatre I suggested to a few ATG staff that they should be booking this for next Christmas, yes it is that good, a proper family show, dark in places as Roald Dahl can be, but filled with magic and music too.
BTG is an enormous local amateur company so as always you can expect a stage full of characters of all ages. It works well for this with huge street scenes and troops of Oompa Lumpas, very cleverly handled here, and hysterically choreographed by Jodie Michele whose work throughout is stunning. Michael Burnie has directed with a keen eye on balancing the frankly sinister aspects of Dahl’s story with the gentler elements of the tale. And this is a morality tale, behave or else, and the else in this fiction is truly gruesome.
There are many principal roles here to comment on too. Phil Nair-Brown is a delight as Grandpa Joe and Karen Brazier is charming and gentle as Mrs Bucket with a very fine voice. Lucia Romero Clark’s Mrs Gloop is hilarious and Hadlee Snow as her sausage guzzling son makes this the best comic pairing of the evening, and that sausage wielding dance routine is a wonder to behold. But this said the pairings of the other golden ticket winners are consistently good, The Beauregardes, Philip Lloyd Davies and Isla Miles, The Salts, Nathan Charman and Ailsa Rice, The Teavees, Helen Snow and Elijah Pena all deliver their roles with vivid reality, greed, pride, sloth, arrogance… maybe just maybe they deserve to end up being candied by Wonka.
And what an extraordinary character Willy Wonka is, a man driven by ambition and, using his own somewhat warped moral compass, he exacts his powers with a strange relish. There is a devilish charm to the part and one that Carl Lovejoy plays with fully. His presence is never short of being disturbing, he prowls and lopes around the stage with flashing eyes and bared teeth, at times reminding me of Barry Humphries at his most wicked. It’s a very accomplished performance in every sense and his fine voice soars above the band led by Dan Lacey from the pit. There are a few moments when the fast pace of the patter numbers lead to some lack of clarity of diction, but it’s a minor quibble in what is an epic piece of performance.
Of course last but by no means not least there has to be a Charlie Bucket, the kind and caring child at the heart of the story and the character around which the moral core hangs. It’s a role that sees the player on stage for almost every second of the show. A role that demands some delicate playing and also strength. It’s a role that demands a fine voice, these are not simple pop tunes but complex in both structure and phrasing. It is a role that needs to be played by a young person larded with talent and on this occasion that talent is Lenny Kerr. Lenny brings to the part both the sweetness and strength that brings Charlie to life. He performs without ever seeming to need to take a breath, the smile is infectious and the voice has such clarity and musicality, five very personal stars for him alone.
All this said we need to applaud the entire company both off stage and on. The dance teams are so well drilled and slick, a stage crammed with high kicking Oompa Lumpas that manage not to crash into each other is a miracle in itself, delightful tiny and not so tiny ballerinas and a full on chorus too, plus a very funny vegetable lady who has the best gags of the evening and not forgetting a bed full of grungy old grandparents, a brilliantly comic head Oompa Lumpa… forgive me if I have missed any one which I may well have done. Ah yes squirrels!
Roll on the summer when we will be treated to BTG’s world premiere amateur production of Les Miserables, an honour gifted to them by none other than Sir Cameron MacIntosh!
Andrew Kay
19 February
Theatre Royal Brighton
Rating:
