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A review from 5D Music & Theatre writer Maria Robertson.
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I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this musical. l have – as with most people – read Roald Dahl’s book and seen the movie, well both of the movies, so an on stage version was difficult to imagine. My key question was would there still be my beloved squirrels?! Happy to report that the musical is absolutely astounding!
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The show starts with a pile of rubbish at the tip that Charlie Bucket picks through to look for other people’s trash which could be his treasure, as the song goes. This mound of rubbish moves aside to reveal the shop where he buys his treasured bar of birthday chocolate each year. Another set move and the tip opens to reveal the house where he lives with his family, the four grandparents in a bed upstairs and Mum downstairs working hard and tirelessly to feed the family and earn money to buy more food. It is not a grand house but as a stage presence it’s fantastic.
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Charlie Bucket is played by Isaac Sugden who is an amazing young lad. He was on the stage first and last, he never forgot a line and sang beautifully even though he only looks about 10 years old. He was just how I imagine Charlie Bucket and he played the character just perfectly, with a beautiful relationship with Grandpa Joe, who is played by Michael D’Cruze. The two of them had an amazing chemistry on stage as should be for those characters. Willy Wonka himself with played by Gareth Snook, he was fantastically quirky as is expected for this role.
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Special effects for the Chocolate Factory were very cleverly done. When the curtains opened for the second half I was expecting to see more but it turned out a lot of it was done by visual special effects on the back screen. So when, for example, Augustus Gloop goes and eats from the forbidden chocolate waterfall and then falls into it it’s all done with graphics on the back screen and on the floor of the stage. It does look like he is drowning in chocolate! When Willy Wonka has exploding bonbons they spark on the stage and there’s a shower of rainbow colours come out of it. Very clever, but also very effective.
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Of course we have to mention the Oompa Loompas, the essential workers in the chocolate factory. Although they tend to be short characters, in this performance they were played by a variety of body shapes including one incredibly tall gentleman, who also doubled as a basketball player in another scene. They were all dressed in silver metallic outfits, looking robotic and indeed they danced robotically too. It was a good twist to suit the stage.
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As for the squirrels, yes they appeared, one massive living one and the rest animated on the wall behind. Many squeals of glee, especially when he declared Violet Beauregarde as a bad nut and pushed her down the reject shoot! Although I was ready to yell “Want” in the same way as she does to demand a squirrel of her own!
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Although the tickets for this show are not golden they are well worth having – get yours now and do not miss out on “a world of pure imagination”!
Further information and tickets: https://www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/whats-on/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/
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Maria Robertson is the Chief Music & Theatre Writer for the 5D Pop Culture Website and provides reviews & coverage of local Aberdeen music & theatre gigs. She’s an experienced writer for numerous sources and is a self-confessed live gig addict ever since seeing The Counting Crows at the Barrowlands in 1994.
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