Review - Wonka world

Teatru Qroqq's educational plays continue this time with an excerpt of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The play explored scenes from the factory trip preceded by an introduction of the child characters and the way in which lucky Charlie Bucket found his golden ticket.

Augustus Gloop (Heathcliffe Schembri) was our first introduction and had the audience in fits of laughter with his obsessive cravings for "chooooocolate" and "foooooooood".

Veruca Salt's (Elaine Azzopardi) stubborn character and screeching voice and Violet Beauregarde's (Kylie Vella) chewing jaws were also very convincing. All in all the actors were persuasive and confident and showed they worked hard; perhaps a little more work on diction would have added a more professional feel.

Robert Klarmann who played Willy Wonka was fantastic in his role: funny, spontaneous and a combination of the mean-spirited eccentric guy and the good-hearted character that Dahl created.

Considering the difficulty in setting up such a play the team made a good job with creative ideas and good use of props. Creating a chocolate river, a tunnel where squirrels are busy checking nuts, a girl who swells up into a balloon is no mean feat but Teatru Qroqq managed with the help of the prop team, namely Kylie Vella, Maria Attard, Veronique Mifsud Grimaud and Greta Zarb.

The chocolate river was simulated by brown sheets moving to the rhythms of the actors dancing beneath it. The body of Violet Beauregarde was also made to swell up by the help of a blue sheet. The theatre in the round was made to look like the chocolate factory by hanging sweets from the ceiling and candy sticks on the walls. The Oompa Loompas played a crucial part of the production as they danced away to the original tunes from the film version of Dahl's book.

The messages were all educational ones for children: excessive greediness, watching too much TV and the reward one gets for behaving well which was portrayed in Charlie's happy ending.

Directed by Marcelle Theuma with the assistance of Suzannah Bonello and Mr Schembri, the musical show was a success once again for this group of B. Ed students who are given the chance to develop their teaching skills in such an original way. Typically of Teatru Qroqq, the programme that was given out at the start of the show was full of exciting trivia and games and also a competition. The show ended with a raffle draw where a lucky winner was awarded a "golden ticket" to visit the Playmobil factory. All the children were also given a Nestle milky bar chocolate on their way out, which was a lovely idea to finish off a fun-filled outing.