REVIEW: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – The Musical at the Mayflower Theatre

Tonight, Willy Wonka welcomed the chocolate factory into his Southampton. Wait, scratch that – now reverse it. Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ is a story that we all know and love very well. Whether that be from the book itself, Gene Wilder or Johnny Depp’s interpretations, or even the anticipation for Timothée Chalamet’s ‘Wonka!’ – it’s a family favourite! The same story has been told in a number of different ways and you can now relive that magic through song and dance once again. David Greig’s stage adaptation started on London’s West-End in 2013 before making its way to Broadway in 2017 and back to the UK and Ireland in 2023 for its first ever tour. Stage adaptation of books aren’t everybody’s cup of tea, especially when they are as well known as this. So how do you bring such a monumental piece of art to life in a different and exciting way without ruining the story? Theatre magic!

This isn’t your average ‘story-book’ telling of ‘Charlie’, (what I’ll be referencing the musical as from now on), but a new and inventive twist on the same characters and world we’re so familiar with now. I won’t bore you with a synopsis of the general narrative of the show but it features everything you’d expect it to from chocolate, to glass elevators, to lots more chocolate. One thing that was particularly impressive throughout the show was the choreography between set movement, the actors on stage, and the interaction with the set and lighting. Director, James Brining, has clearly worked extremely closely with each and every member of the company to ensure that the ‘theatre magic’ is as immersive and extraordinary as possible. As he said, “we could all do with some joyful escapism and what better way to do that than to be transported away to Roald Dahl’s magical world of hope and dreams”. 

When it comes to the cast, everybody put 100% into what they were doing and it really shows. A lot of the cast had double roles so were always switching up between scenes and despite the show pretty much being the story of 5 different children, there was actually only 1 child in the cast and that was Charlie. The actors that did play the other 4 children did their jobs brilliantly. After the first couple of minutes I had forgotten that they were adults acting as children, job well done! I think it’s pretty obvious but Gareth Snook who played the role of ‘Willy Wonka’ was just fantastic. He was the perfect mix of Wilder and Depp whilst still being his own character at the same time. Adding in his singing and comedic monologues – Brilliant! Michael D’Cruze who played the role of ‘Grandpa Joe’, was also a stand out performer. His character helped in bringing the audience into the correct tone or feeling for each particular scene, as if we were living through how he was reacting on stage. Fantastic work! But of course we can’t forgot the role of ‘Charlie Bucket’ who was played by the incredibly talented Harmony Raine-Riley. Harmony was brilliant from the first moment she stepped onto the stage. The whole audience was captivated by every word she was saying/singing and at such a young age to take control of an audience that size… Bravo! 

I’d also like to give a special shout-out to Leonie Spilsbury who played the roles of ‘Mrs Bucket/Mrs Teavee’. Whenever she was playing Mrs Bucket – whilst talking and singing, she was also signing using Makaton sign language. Lots of other characters in the ‘Bucket Household’ were also using Makaton when speaking but Spilsbury was signing nearly the whole time and doing so really well. It’s very refreshing to see actors signing being incorporated into the story line and it was a fantastic idea to do so. Really amazing work! 

For me what really made this show was the set, lighting and illusions. This is what the ‘theatre magic’ was all about. Simon Higlett (set & costume designer) and Tim Mitchell (lighting designer) have hit the nail on the head when it comes to bringing the magic to life! There were so many different set changes with big intricate movements that literally brought the chocolate factory to life. This mixed with the scarily impressive lighting and video partnership (Simon Wainwright, video designer), meant that actors interactions with set were extremely simple but had such a huge impact on the audience. There were multiple times that the audience could be heard audibly gasping at the sites they were seeing. These gasps would have also been a big thanks to Chris Fisher (illusions), who again bought the magic to life right in front of our eyes with practical illusions on both minor and major scales. My only wish was that they’d gone bigger with some of their illusions to ensure that they don’t get undermined or lost. Other than that, flawless! 

You of course can’t have a musical without the music. As well as including the original 1970’s motion picture classics of ‘The Candy Man’ and ‘Pure Imagination’, there is a whole new set of original songs from Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Personally I thought the music was the correct accompaniment to the story and Musical Supervisor and Director (David Shrubsole and Ellen Campbell), managed to hit every beat perfectly – excuse the pun. They really helped to control the mood of the show and portray the emotion of the characters onto the audience. With Shaiman and Wittman having also written the music for the Tony and Grammy award winning musical ‘Hairspray’, it’s no wonder the music was so good – we can ‘choc’ it up to experience… 

But with all joking aside, this is the perfect soundtrack for the story and with a live orchestra, its even better! 

Act 1 of the musical took us through the back story of the characters and finding each of the golden tickets. Although there is actually quite a lot to go through there, it just seemed as if not a lot really happened. The story felt quite slow paced and like we weren’t moving anywhere with any purpose very quickly. Granted, the majority of the first act does take place in the Bucket’s home so there isn’t much movement – but for me unfortunately it just fell a bit flat on the pace side of things. Act 2 ramped up considerably in pace and took us through the tour of the factory and losing each child. This was actually done very cleverly and everything I previously mentioned above all came together to make this possible. Without giving too much away, act 2 is also where we met the infamous ‘Oompa-Loompas’, but these weren’t little orange people with green hair – they were instead kind of terrifying. All I could think was Tim Burton meets the Tin-man (if you know you know). They certainly put their own spin on it and it was certainly a surprise, I’m just unsure if it was a welcomed one yet.

Despite this ‘Charlie’ managed to balance a story for children and adults alike flawlessly, creating a timeless classic that the whole family can enjoy. The magic of Roald Dahl’s mind was developing in real time right in front of our eyes through all of our senses. From the moment you walk into the theatre they pump a chocolate scent through the air and continue to do so for the duration of the show. It’s just a lovely added touch. I remember turning around in the interval and wishing I had some dark chocolate. Superb attention to detail. ‘Charlie’ has it’s tongue-in-cheek moments, as well as it’s darker moments which go hand in hand brilliantly, getting laughs and smiles from both adults and children. This is such an uplifting, inspiring, and feel-good musical that ironically leaves you not really having to use your imagination. The show is currently on it’s UK & Ireland tour and if it’s coming to a theatre near you it’s definitely worth a watch; just remember your chocolate! As the tour continues I wish the whole cast and company all the success and luck going forward.