by Neil Richard
Coming off of the much more serious production of The Diary of Anne Frank, the King George High School Theatre Department swung the emotional pendulum in the other direction by producing a hilarious, kid-oriented, version of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory book by Roald Dahl.
In what appeared to be an effort to shorten the opening scenes and save those already familiar with the story from hearing it again, the play opened with some overt exposition. In fact, Scene 1 was literally called Exposition. But it was nice to skip over the more depressing and dramatic portion of the story and get right to the comedy. We were introduced to all of the main characters with a special focus on the five golden ticket winners and their families.
The cast, led by Cannon Parker as Willy Wonka and Jayden Wynes as Charlie Bucket, performed as well as they had in the past, with only one line that appeared to be missed but turned out to be funny enough in the moment to be mistaken for a part of the script.
The action, and laughs, started to ramp up as Wonka gave the kids a tour of his Chocolate Room. Watching the chocolate river get unrolled, I was frankly skeptical that it would work well. I was pleasantly surprised when Augustus Gloop, played by Andrew Denton, did a great job of going down the chocolate river and into the pipe at the end.
The props and set decoration continued to play a delightful role in the action as Wonka continued his tour in the second half of the play. The Invention Room was simplistic yet complex and the Squirrel Room was hilarious. The best prop of the night would have to be a tie between the Glass Elevator and the Television Room. Even though you knew it was coming, Mr. Teavee, played by Darrian Hodsen, did great at being sick in the elevator.
For me, the best scene of the night was when Mike Teavee, played by Brandon Thomas, shrunk himself into the television. His mother, played by Natalie Pelto, showed a perfect grasp of the emotions a frustrated mother would have for a son that was suddenly not a pest anymore. And when she shoved her shrunken son into her purse, and gave it a solid whack, it was the great!
Overall, I found the play to be both over the top and subtle in so many ways. From the cast acting in the background while the Oompa Loompas sang and danced to the overwhelming aura of Willy Wonka, the play melded into another production that once again, could be watched several times. As one audience member noted during Intermission, the Riverside may produce great content but the High School produces shows that are much better bang for your buck.
Their next production will be The Little Mermaid from April 29th to May 2nd.
Coming off of the much more serious production of The Diary of Anne Frank, the King George High School Theatre Department swung the emotional pendulum in the other direction by producing a hilarious, kid-oriented, version of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory book by Roald Dahl.
In what appeared to be an effort to shorten the opening scenes and save those already familiar with the story from hearing it again, the play opened with some overt exposition. In fact, Scene 1 was literally called Exposition. But it was nice to skip over the more depressing and dramatic portion of the story and get right to the comedy. We were introduced to all of the main characters with a special focus on the five golden ticket winners and their families.
The cast, led by Cannon Parker as Willy Wonka and Jayden Wynes as Charlie Bucket, performed as well as they had in the past, with only one line that appeared to be missed but turned out to be funny enough in the moment to be mistaken for a part of the script.
The action, and laughs, started to ramp up as Wonka gave the kids a tour of his Chocolate Room. Watching the chocolate river get unrolled, I was frankly skeptical that it would work well. I was pleasantly surprised when Augustus Gloop, played by Andrew Denton, did a great job of going down the chocolate river and into the pipe at the end.
The props and set decoration continued to play a delightful role in the action as Wonka continued his tour in the second half of the play. The Invention Room was simplistic yet complex and the Squirrel Room was hilarious. The best prop of the night would have to be a tie between the Glass Elevator and the Television Room. Even though you knew it was coming, Mr. Teavee, played by Darrian Hodsen, did great at being sick in the elevator.
For me, the best scene of the night was when Mike Teavee, played by Brandon Thomas, shrunk himself into the television. His mother, played by Natalie Pelto, showed a perfect grasp of the emotions a frustrated mother would have for a son that was suddenly not a pest anymore. And when she shoved her shrunken son into her purse, and gave it a solid whack, it was the great!
Overall, I found the play to be both over the top and subtle in so many ways. From the cast acting in the background while the Oompa Loompas sang and danced to the overwhelming aura of Willy Wonka, the play melded into another production that once again, could be watched several times. As one audience member noted during Intermission, the Riverside may produce great content but the High School produces shows that are much better bang for your buck.
Their next production will be The Little Mermaid from April 29th to May 2nd.
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