REVIEW: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Matteo Correa, Dell Domnik and Austin Terrell in the Denver Vic's production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I've never liked the Willy Wonka movies, for the same reason I don't like Alice in Wonderland. They scare me. There's something chaotic, even horrific about these stories, in which a young protagonist is thrust unprepared into a hostile and confusing world where the rules are constantly shifting, and bystanders all around meet terrifying fates. Also, both Gene Wilder's creepy, and Johnny Depp's even creepier interpretations of the bizarre man child Wonka give me the willies.

What a relief it is to have thoroughly enjoyed the stage version of Roald Dahl's modern classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, ably directed by Rita Broderick and presented by the Denver Victorian Playhouse through December 21, 2008.

Let's give credit where it's due. Broderick's directorial imagination and Austin Terrell's quirky (but not creepy) interpretation of Willy Wonka more than make up for Richard R. George's clunky and haphazard stage adaptation of Dahl's novel.

Optimistic Charlie Bucket (Mateo Correa) and his beloved Grandpa Joe (Dell Domnik) join a host of variously spoiled and undeserving brats, along with their harried parents, on a tour of the mysterious Willy Wonka's uncanny and labyrinthine candy factory. One by one the children are eliminated in ghastly but probably not lethal ways, until only Charlie remains to inherit the enterprise.

There's a hint of morality play in the depiction of the perhaps not-quite-deadly sins of the other children, and the consequences they reap, but Wonka himself is still disturbingly amoral. Putting children in harm's way in a hazardous environment isn't nearly as much a concern for him as maintaining the purity of his product, as if something with no nutritional value should be revered solely for its originality.

And yet, abstracted for the stage, the disturbing aspects of the story are downplayed, freeing the audience to enjoy Dahl's wry, satiric wit. Also, there are no shudder-inducing Oompa Loompas, except in voice over, and no one bursts into song.

Broderick has assembled a cast of familiar adult faces from the local community, and up and coming young actors from the Denver School of the Arts. The colorful set accommodates the vast array of settings fairly well, and the sound design is superb. The spirit of the play is enhanced by the sale of actual Wonka Bars in the lobby of the Victorian Playhouse, and some of them actually have "golden tickets," with which lucky chocoholics can win a prize.

So while I may still think that Charlie's moral victory and subsequent acquisition of the chocolate factory is a mixed blessing, the Vic's production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a fun and enjoyable play for the whole family.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory plays at the Denver Victorian Playhouse in north Denver through December 21, 2008. Call 303-433-4343 or visit online at www.denvervic.com for information and reservations.